Out with the Crony, In with the Extremist? Harriet Miers has declined President Bush's nomination to the Supreme Court. I didn't speak out against her nomination with the same vigor as I did John Roberts because Roberts had a much more expansive record. Roberts is on the record denying the right to privacy, making sexist jokes and undermining race relations. Miers hasn't done any of those things publicly. While she wasn't going to "go Souter", at least she provided the potential for having a reasonable Republican on the court similar to Kennedy. While Miers really didn't have the qualifications for the job, I wonder if this is really a good thing for the United States in the long run. Bush will likely try and shore up his base with a qualified, far right conservative. The law might be damaged more by a wingnut Scalia clone than a lame Clarence Thomas clone. Let's see what happens, but I can't imagine the Republicans failing in their chance to remold the Supreme Court in a conservative image.