"Exclusively on the Right"

Great column by Jonah Goldberg about the Harriet Miers controversy at National Review Online SCOTUS Rumble---

The conventional wisdom in Washington has been that George W. Bush’s second Supreme Court nomination would be vastly more controversial than the first, causing huge hissy fits, titanic temper tantrums, and endless caterwauling. The conventional wisdom gets partial credit. There has indeed been much gnashing of teeth and rending of cloth over the nomination of Harriet Miers, but it has been almost exclusively on the Right.

Yes, yes, the usual liberal activist groups issued their press releases condemning the president’s pick, but that system was on autopilot already. In fact, I hear Ralph Neas of People for the American Way is creating a holographic version of himself which will condemn “extremist judges” millennia from now, when the earth is ruled by super-intelligent bees.

The authentic dismay has been on the Right. Many conservatives believed this was the opportunity for a slam dunk. John Roberts was an inspired choice. His credentials are impeccable, his abilities beyond dispute. If Bush appointed a Michael McConnell or a Michael Luttig — brilliant judges on the 10th and Fourth Circuits, respectively — he could have not only moved the Court to the right but moved the entire legal culture through the sheer intellectual force of the justices.