DMR Discovers Verb

Bork: "to destroy a judicial nominee through a concerted attack on his character, background and philosophy".

The Des Moines register is defending a Bush SCOTUS nominee. Whoo, if this isn't a reason to be concerned about the Miers nomination, I don't know what is.

Internet bloggers, radio talk-show hosts, syndicated columnists and other members of the conservative commentariat have savaged her in the most demeaning terms, not just for a lack of judicial experience but for general intellectual shortcomings. At least the Bork critics confined their criticism to his constitutional philosophy without questioning his IQ.

I don't listen to talk radio, so I can't speak to that. However, I haven't seen anything in "Internet Blogs" (are there other kinds...?) that have demeaned Miers. Have they questioned her qualifications? Yes. Have they questioned her conservative bona fides? Yes. Have they questioned Bush's tactic of picking a "stealth" nominee instead of a Janice Rogers Brown? Yes. But I've read nothing in The Corner, for example that went after her personally. The discussion has been civil, balanced and thoughtful.

Does the REB even remember the Bork hearings? You want some demeaning, distorting, intellectually bankrupt demagoguery? Read what this savage had to say:

"Robert Bork's America is a land in which women would be forced into back-alley abortions, blacks would sit at segregated lunch counters, rogue police could break down citizens' doors in midnight raids, children could not be taught about evolution," - Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-MA

Wow... looks like Teddy took a big handful of hyperbole pills with his gin that day. I've seen nor heard nothing about Miers (from the right or left) that even comes close.

Maybe I'm not being enough of a pragmatist. The REB's editorial reaction could be exactly what Bush had in mind for the left. Not so the reaction from certain corners on the right. I'm sorry, but the fact that James Dobson has given his seal of approval to Miers does not exactly make me feel positive.

As a small-government social liberal, I fear that Miers will be the worst of both worlds - e.g. a pro-Affirmative Action / anti-stem cell research religious Luddite who plays the judicial activism game to promote her idea of "progress".

I expect the committee hearings (there's no way Bush is going to pull the nomination...) to be interesting. Not for Miers' responses - I expect her to reveal absolutely nothing if she can help it - but for the conduct of the Senators. Given the deference shown to Miers by Democrats on the Judiciary Committee, the dynamic should be fascinating.