"Tofu for the Base"

I'll have more to say about the big events of the day after my one-day, continuing-resolution-style honeymoon ends.

But I do want to point out the neon sign of weakness that George W. Bush flicked on this morning with the nomination of White House Crony Counsel Harriet Miers to replace Justice O'Connor on the SCOTUS. As Jack Balkin points out:

When in doubt, this President has turned to trusted aides and associates, and promoted them. The Miers nomination is yet another example. The advantage of this strategy is predictability (for the President, as opposed to the public as a whole); the disadvantage is the danger of cronyism. Although we don't know much about Miers, it's likely that, like John Roberts, she was picked with a view toward protecting executive power.

Over the weekend, my wife and I joked about how one might expect Bush to nominate Michael Brown---after all, he's just as qualified to sit on the Court as he was to run FEMA. The jury is out concerning Miers's qualifications, but when he faces trouble, Bush either resorts to cronyism---as Balkin notes---or picks a known pit-bull to stir up support from the base.

Maybe, as Balkin also suggests, Bush knows enough about Miers to think she is really Scalia in plain (actually, in this case quite garish) clothing. But there is no way for the Leonard Leos of the world to really know this: appropriately enough for this administration, they will have to take it on faith.

Let me put it another way: my wife suggested this morning that the Miers nomination is like throwing tofu to the base and telling them that if you put the right sauce on it, it tastes just like red meat.

A pretty good cliche play if you ask me.

Postscript: Let me say a quick thank you to Peter for this amusing and touching post. We had a blast, and we're glad to know that BAMBY did, too; I can confirm that CHB had a great time as well (sorry, Peter, but we just can't tell you....try Libby or Rove, and maybe get some testimony from Judy Miller)....

Update: You just have to read this post by apparent conservative Gerry Daly