Cynthia Tucker: BUSH'S CHOICE OF A NOBODY HAS EVERYBODY UP IN ARMS

[deadparrot]

President Bush may be as confused about the controversy surrounding the nomination of Harriet Miers as I am. Sure, he nominated a crony. So what? He's been doing that for the past five years. Indeed, he started his presidency without enough of his own cronies to put in office, so he had to borrow some from his daddy. Since when did his supporters mind?

No, Miers is certainly not the most qualified person the president could find. Neither was Clarence Thomas when Bush's father found him. But Dad used a similar phrase in presenting Thomas 14 years ago, and conservatives parroted the line with a straight face.

While Thomas, unlike Miers, had served briefly as a federal judge, he had never been celebrated as a paragon of profound intellect. He endeared himself to white conservatives as chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, where he proved willing to condemn the very affirmative action policies that had helped him to succeed. But that was enough.

So why hasn't Miers' opposition to abortion been enough to win the enthusiasm of conservative Christians? Why hasn't James Dobson's endorsement whipped the religious right wing into a chorus of support?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ucas/bushschoiceofanobodyhaseverybodyupinarms

[NorCalDem]

1. Cause the religious right ain't all that powerful anymore

they used up all their "political capital" in 2004, and they're running out of it now (along with ideas and reasons for hating certain groups of people). Their day has passed, and I for one, couldn't be happier!