Janet and HarrietThis is been a bad week for childless women.
Yesterday, Janet Jackson
strongly denied rumors that she gave birth to a child in secret. I believe her; otherwise, she would've popped the kid out while performing at a Super Bowl halftime show.
And today, White House Counsel Harriet Miers withdrew from consideration for the Supreme Court.
Regarding Janet Jackson, who really gives a shit?
As for Harriet Miers, the nomination never made any sense -- politically or judicially. Her sole qualification was that she is a friend of the president. Well, whoop-dee-do. Is there any doubt that had Miers been the chief counsel of, say, Health and Human Services and unknown to the president that she never would have been nominated?
What's confounding about this fiasco is that George W. Bush has demonstrated potent political prowess and a talent for choosing exceptional judicial nominees. Why, then, did he expend so much political capital on such an obviously lame choice for the Supreme Court? Can this possibly be the same president who nominated John Roberts for chief justice? The mind boggles.
The White House's effort to sell the Miers nomination was clumsy at best. The only way it could've gotten worse is if during the confirmation hearings, Harriet had a
costume malfunction.
So, thankfully, the president concluded it was time to Kevorkian the nomination.
Now W has a chance to get it right. And if he is determined to replace Justice O'Connor with a woman, then there are plenty of highly-qualified candidates.
Janice Rogers Brown, for example.
Here's a rule-of-thumb: if the nominee makes Democrats squeal like stuck pigs, then she's a great choice.
