More Notes Here And There

1. So I guess I was wrong about Harriet Miers. In my defense, I still think that if she had gotten to the Senate hearings stage, the GOP would have (reluctantly, but still) lined up behind her. But it looks like she felt so out of her own depth that she couldn't make it that far.

2. The obvious move now would be to nominate someone who is a raging ideologue (to please the base) but has competence and credentials out the wazoo (to defuse the factional momentum, which built its case on Miers' incompetence). I've heard talk (offline) about how the Miers episode was a brilliantly devious move by Karl Rove. That's an awfully convenient belief. If the other side is run by evil geniuses, it absolves you of having to look at your own side's failings.

3. Chris Clarke reminds me of how much I hate that Margaret Mead quote about a small group of citizens being able to change the world.