Some Blogospheric reactions:
- James Joyner–who correctly notes:
Details will follow. Let me be clear about something, though: While I am glad this is over, this controversy reflects badly on President Bush, not Harriet Miers. From all indications, Miers is a decent, honorable woman. The fact that she did not meet the incredibly high threshold of being qualified to sit on the Supreme Court is no shame. Unfortunately, the president put her in a position to become the target of public ridicule. She did nothing to deserve that.
- Captain Ed asks:
Now can we nominate a candidate whose qualities and track record presumes we control the Senate?
I second that motion.
- Je Gandelman:
It appears they took the “out” offered by the Senate Judiciary Committee when both Democrats AND Republicans requested documents that are protected both by executive privilege and by attorney-client confidentiality.
- Scott Gosnell is shocked.
- Michelle Malkin:
What a relief. Sad, pensive, what-a-waste relief. Not happy-joy-joy relief.
- They are all pleased at Southern Appeal.
- Brendan Nyhan asks:
And what’s up with the timing of this announcement? Maybe they want to drown out the forthcoming indictments, but it seems like we’ll see the opposite effect - it will magnify the (correct) perception of an administration in disarray.
- Bart Harmon of Pros and Cons ponders the indictments as well.
- SCOTUSblog has the text of the President’s statement.
- Althouse:
so we don’t have Miers to kick around anymore.
- Sully
In the end, the Bush team decided to deploy what seems to me a transparently phony argument that executive privilege over confidential papers forced them to withdraw Miers.
and
This is a big coup for the Washington conservative intellectual establishment and the counter-intelligentsia that has been deliberately built to tackle the left’s academic monopoly these last couple of decades.
and
it’s again amazing how unable this president is to take full responsibility for his decisions and choices. Face-saving is not an unusual thing in politics. But equally it is never a sign of real strength. A strong president takes responsibility for his own choices, even if he feels misunderstood or misled. Reagan’s Iran-Contra confession was an example of someone strong enough to admit a failure. This president is not internally strong enough to do something similar. His strength is a form of brittleness. Like all brittleness, it is prone to cracking suddenly and without warning. It just did.
I will update as I read.
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October 27th, 2005 at 9:11 am
A quick note: I wrote the post you quote from The Moderate Voice. Joe Gandelman is traveling today and asked his co-bloggers to keep track of things.
October 27th, 2005 at 9:13 am
Jack–thanks. I will fix that–my oversight.
October 27th, 2005 at 9:25 am
Miers Withdraws Nomination
At 8:30 this morning, Harriet Miers informed the President she was withdrawing from consideration for the Supreme Court vacancy created by Justice O’Connor’s resignation.
October 27th, 2005 at 9:30 am
No worries, it’s hard to track sometimes who wrote what. There have been occasions I read The Moderate Voice and wonder what Joe was thinking, then I notice it was one of the co-bloggers who wrote the post I was reading.
October 27th, 2005 at 9:40 am
[...] he can return to the President’s side as counsel and serve out the term with distinction. PoliBlogger - More Blogger Reactions James Joyner (OTB) - “Let me be clear about something, though: While I a [...]
October 27th, 2005 at 10:17 am
Unravelling Miers
As was widely expected, Harriet Miers withdrew her name this morning. I’ve got some thoughts on what comes next, but first I want to consider what happened.
October 27th, 2005 at 10:53 am
The Final Chapter[?]
I must say that I am not completely dissapointed that she withdrew. Hopefully, President Bush has learned from this and we will see a reflection in his next candidate of what he promised us in the run up to 2008. As your humble pundit has said before…
October 27th, 2005 at 2:40 pm
Lessons Learned From The Miers Debacle!
Lessons Learned From The Miers Debacle!
What happens now that Harriet Miers has withdrawn her nomination to the Supreme Court? Miers will stay as Whitehouse council, and President Bush has another choice to make. What has President Bush learned fro…
October 27th, 2005 at 2:46 pm
Start Talking About Facial Hair and Meat! Now!
Harriet Miers has withdrawn her name from nomination to the Supreme Court. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the blogosphere can finally get back to talking about things important to us non-Americans. Like mustaches and, er, ham. You can read the re…
October 27th, 2005 at 9:15 pm
Supreme Court: Miers Withdraws
Harriet Miers gives up and (almost every) Conservative breathes a sigh of relief. Now we’ll see if Bush understands how dangerous is to go against his own electoral base. In RealClearPolitics’ short-list, Camillo chooses Michael McConnell. We don’t …