The Right: Miers is Wrong

Recently, I set up a separate RSS reader to monitor some of the top conservative blogs. I decided that if I am going to continue blogging, I should perhaps think about confronting some bloggers on the right. The Bush administration has been a handy target, but this past year has been kind of difficult.

The Social Security debate wasn't that interesting to me, I'm not a lawyer or Supreme Court specialist, and blogs like firedoglake are doing a much better job of following the Traitorgate scandal that I ever could.

Iraq is a disaster, but there's only so much a guy can say about that. Isn't there?

So, where to turn?

Today, I read a post by Captain Ed on Captain's Quarters called "Bad News Turns Into Flood On Miers." In the course of analyzing the Miers nomination, the blogger points out some dubious payments made while she was heading the Texas Lottery, the unprecedented and enormous payments made by Bush to Miers' lawfirm in the 1998 Texas governor's race, and the possible damaging information she may have about the President's National Guard service.

Hmmm. I wonder if the payments are connected to the information?

An unnamed Republican Senator has apparently called for the withdrawal of the nomination and Captain Ed clearly agrees:

...the President has a responsibility to select nominees that meet minimal qualifications for the highest court in America in order to get that benefit of the doubt, and based on Miers' performance in the last couple of days, I highly doubt that Bush met that test in this one instance. If Clinton had named Bruce Lindsay to the Supreme Court with this kind of track record, the Right would have lined up for miles to shred both of them -- and we would have been correct to do so.

Maybe this explains something Josh Marshall reported today about a press release he received from Intrade, a company that runs a futures market on political issues. This is from the press release Marshall quotes:

"The Miers confirmation contract was trading at 92, meaning a 92% probability of confirmation last week. Early this week the contract slid to 64 then this morning with no warning droped to 20 in heavy trading", says Mike Knesevitch Communication Director at Intrade.

When I just checked (about noon), it was 37.

Well, at least Tom Delay is smiling. Democrats sure were stupid to think that an indictment might make news. Then again, even if his mug shot cannot be used in the '06 midterm elections, maybe a picture of a smiling Delay would be widely disseminated -- and thereby attract attention to the story?

Nah, never happen.

Who's going to notice a happy guy?