The Miers mire

Los Angeles Times: The White House caved. In a stunning reversal for President Bush, and a blow to the cause of cronyism everywhere, his friend and lawyer Harriet E. Miers withdrew as a nominee to replace Sandra Day O'Connor on the U.S. Supreme Court. Both sides of the partisan divide in Washington rushed to spin the aborted nomination in equally cynical ways. Democratic senators embraced the narrative of a nominee defeated by Republican extremists. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., called the Miers withdrawal a victory for the "radical right wing." This is silly. It's a victory for the U.S. judiciary that someone with such dubious qualifications will not serve on its highest court. Sillier still Even more absurd was the Republican rush to recast Miers as a martyr for the constitutional principle of separation of powers. If Miers were someone truly qualified to serve on the court (instead of someone who hardly seems qualified to serve as the president's lawyer), executive privilege would not have been an issue. Bush should nominate another mainstream conservative with such unimpeachable credentials that a wide spectrum of Americans will support him (or her).