Tuesday, July 19, 2005

The Nominee   The President is going to name his Supreme Court nominee tonight.  I'm done writing until after I hear what he has to say, and more importantly, who he picks.  I will put forward my own irresponsible speculation first, though:  I think Gonzales is the probable nominee.  If the President puts up a contentious nominee, any legislation which requires bipartisanship is dead for the next two years...and Democratic Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid has suggested Gonzales would get more or less a free pass.  And if Gonzales isn't the pick, I would have thought the next most likely choice is Edith Clement, whose legal focus in the past has been on the riveting topic of maritime law, which makes her an exceedingly safe choice.  It's hard to see people voting her down because of her view on piracy on the high seas.  But word is she's vacationing in Wyoming (in the summer?), and the President plans to appear with his nominee.  Also, why she would vacation there when you can't ski tends to call into question her judgment. Of course, there are such things as planes; if Gonzales doesn't get the gig, and Clement doesn't get on a plane, I have no back-up guess.  The other Edith in the tale of two Ediths, Edith Jones, is so extreme she's political poison, so if it's not Gonzales, then I have no idea who it will be. 3:36:48 PM    comment []

Cheney Fundraiser in Minnesota   Mark Kennedy, who is running unopposed for the Republican nomination for Minnesota's open Senate seat, has invited Vice President Cheney to a fundraiser up here on Friday.  Dracula is more popular up here in Minnesota than Cheney.  The fundraiser is to occur at the home of party boss Bill Cooper, in Wayzata, deep in the suburbs, to discourage massive protests, and perhaps shouted questions of whether Vice President Cheney encouraged, or even ordered, Scooter Libby to commit treason in the Plame leak scandal...which are good questions. 2:55:03 PM    comment []

An Edith In, Gonzales Out?   A growing chorus of Washington pinheads is suggesting that Alberto Gonzales is not going to be nominated, but one of the two Ediths will probably be nominated.  Some of them think one Edith is more likely than the other, but really, if you've seen one Edith, you've probably seen them all.  They base this on something less substantial than tea leaves:  the First Lady said she would like a woman nominated, and given that the President likes to go to bed at eight, there's plenty of time for her to talk him into it. But the chattering class is most persuaded that Gonzales is going nowhere because the administration is full of praise for the job he's doing as Attorney General.  They seem to think that eliminates him as a prospect for the Court.  After all, everybody knows that no one gets a promotion in this administration unless they've done a terrible job. Interestingly, although Alberto Gonzales swore he would not be a candidate for the Supreme Court when he was in confirmation hearings for Attorney General, I can find nowhere any suggestion that he might feel bound by his word under oath to the United States Senate. 1:27:23 PM    comment []

Bin Laden Connection to London Bombing?   It appears likely that the London bombing is yet another consequence of the US failure to bring Osama bin Laden to justice, instead getting sidetracked in Iraq.  Two of the four London suicide bombers (including the suspected ringleader) traveled to Pakistan on one plane, and then spent more than three months, or more than enough time to undergo training, in the country that forms bin Laden's current base of operations. But Iraq's important, too; why, Iraq inspires thousands of people every month to die fighting America...um, is that a good thing? 12:11:14 PM    comment []

Republican Support for War Crumbling   Republican Representative Wayne Gilchrest of Maryland, who represents one of the nation's few closely-divided political districts, has become the fourth House Republican to call for the President to develop an exit strategy in Iraq, and then get the American troops out of there.  Just a month ago, there were no Republicans holding this position.  The cracks are growing, and the reduced Republican solidarity on war is showing up just where you would expect them, among the people who could lose their jobs by backing it. 10:39:07 AM    comment []