Scherer is totally wrong. That article completely misunderstands both why the Miers nomination failed and what the consequences of that failure will be.
Miers didn't make the cut because she was unqualified. Sure, Brownback and others from the foolishly named "religious right" opposed her: but so did Hatch and he certainly wouldn't fall into that category. Scherer is conveniently noting that religious conservatives opposed Miers without noting that a lot of conservatives, religious and otherwise, were opposed.
Secondly, the consequences of Miers' failure will be these:
1. Bush must nominate someone that the Republicans are sure has the proper qualifications. Thus, we'll get a judge.
2. Bush must nominate someone who the far right hasn't yet labeled as a moderate. That was true with John Roberts and it will be true again now.
3. Bush must not nominate a woman if doing so makes it seem like she is an "affirmative action" choice. Republicans will not stand for anything but the best qualified candidate.
A very unimpressive article, overall.
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The peculiar evil of silencing the expression of an opinion is, that it is robbing the human race; posterity as well as the existing generation; those who dissent from the opinion, still more than those who hold it. If the opinion is right, they are deprived of the opportunity of exchanging error for truth: if wrong, they lose, what is almost as great a benefit, the clearer perception and livelier impression of truth, produced by its collision with error. ~John Stuart Mill, On Liberty
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