[Daily Brief]

The Miers Mire

MSM
Give Bush credit on this score: by picking Miers, he's given us a lot to talk about. Howard Kurtz has a rundown of the commentary in and outside the MSM (half of which seems to be reporting what National Review writers are saying. Their lack of enthusiasm has made them the go-to commentators on Miers.) Another WaPo columnist has attracted a wee bit of attention (63 links as I write this): George Will, who echoes what I wrote yesterday, sorta. (Which does not please me.) I don't know if it's a harbinger of right-wing reaction, but this is the kind of thinking that could doom her nomination. Meanwhile the Post also reports that the special interests have no idea what to do about Miers. To which I ask the question: why should they have any special insight on this strange candidate? One more on Miers from the Times, which describes how her growing religious conviction may explain her shift to the GOP.

A little commentary here, mid-brief. Conservatives have stuck with Bush through incompetence and mendacity, and the casual observer may wonder why. The Supreme Court. That's the whole kielbasa for them. A chance to rewrite law at its roots and remake the country into a theocratic-leaning monarchy. Pat Buchanan lays it out here, and Common Dreams adds more here.

This is slightly off-topic, but Google and Sun Microsystems have a joint venture to challenge Microsoft's dominance of office software.

Blogosphere
Nathan Newman reports that Miers' law firm settled a lawsuit charging that it helped a client defraud investors. Atrios goes back in time and posts some excerpts from reporting on the O'Connor nomination in 1981. SCOTUSblog on the Oregon "Death with Dignity" case, which comes before the Supreme Court today (I'll also have analysis on it later today). Fact-esque has been redesigned. Lambert at Corrente believes Harry Reid is actually a wily dog who sent the Miers nomination to Bush as a ploy to divide the GOP. Finally, Susie Madrak breaks down George Will, George Bush, and trust.

And that concludes today's brief.