Will and testyment

I have a little confession to make. My bonfides as a progressive are solid but I've always liked George Will since his early days on the Sunday am talking head circuit. So sue me. I have a thing for pompous pundits who wear bowties. That's not to say I believe or agree with most of what he says but he does nail the truth occassionally, such as this time in an op-ed that has Blogtopia in an uproar.

The president's "argument" for her amounts to: Trust me. There is no reason to, for several reasons.

Of course George is giving voice to this newly found conservative angst currently plaguing the Bush apologists. You have to wonder why they're all fired up about it now. I mean, what? Did they just wake yesterday to discover their man Bush is a hopeless incompetent who has based his entire career on placing his equally incompetent but loyal friends into positions of power in order to ensure their loyalty and future compliance with whatever addlebrained schemes he might need help with? It seems rather hard to believe the conservative pundits suddenly became concerned about the national welfare after having given our bumbling misleader a free pass on every other misguided policy and appointment.

I still think all these crocodile tears are some kind of trick. It's perfectly obvious that Miers only qualification is an almost embarassing loyalty to Bush. He might just as well have nominated a rubber stamp and an inkpad. She's the perfect choice to swing the close votes his way when he needs it, otherwise one expects she'll be invisible. A woman who has managed to make it through 60 years of her life without any notable written work of any kind seems unlikely to suddenly fire off a ream of noteworthy opinions. It effectively gives Roberts two votes.

So why are the conservatives upset about this and more importantly why are the Dems recommending her? The party line over there is that we could do worse. Frankly I don't see how and this reticience simply adds to the impression that the Dems don't have a position on anything, while the GOP is stealing their thunder and credibility with faux outrage. At the moment the way it plays in Peoria is that the GOP are finally aghast about cronyism and the Dems think it's okay. That's no way to win elections. It looks to me like the Dems are about to duped again.