Bork Joins the Nay-Sayers

Robert Bork appeared on The Situation Room today. In case you're thinking have forgotten the eighties or weren't paying attention, Bork was nominated to the Supreme Court by Reagan, but not confirmed by the Senate. Conservatives are still angry about this. Given that Bork was unquestionably qualified, the feeling is understandable, if not necessarily its duration, unless you understand the conservatives' long-running frustrations that Republican presidents' hand-picked nominees have a habit of sliding to the left.

I've seen a number of comments from self-identified religious Republicans that they or all religious conservatives will "stay home" in 2006 to express their disappointment in Roberts and/or Miers. Speaking as someone who voted for Nader in 2000 and didn't take very long to regret it — what can I say, I was "young and foolish then, I feel old and foolish now" — my advice is, don't do it, kids. While it might be to the advantage of the views I favor, I can assure you you'll almost certainly regret it. And besides, I'd rather "win" a fair contest.

But I'm digressing a bit. Bork is a conservative's conservative, a proponent of originalism, a symbol of lost chances, a hero and an elite intellectual, a "giant brain". So, theoretically at least, what Bork might have to say about Harriet Miers should be of immense interest to conservatives.

His remarks might be a shock, to those who have been valiantly defending Bush's selection of Miers. It's "a disaster on every level" and "slap in the face to the conservatives who have been building a legal movement." (He means the Federalist Society.)

He says Miers "ought to be rejected," that "trusting [Bush] is a little hard on this one because so many other issues in the past he has let the conservatives down."

It will be interesting to see how the faithful few who have been defending the selection of Miers respond to this. Allegations of sour grapes? Brushing off Bork as an elitist? Joining the ranks of those who have reluctantly decided they can't support Miers?

When staunch conservatives like the folks at Confirm Them advocate rejection or withdrawal of the Miers nomination, and Michelle Malkin is sighing that the Julie Myers nomination made it out of committee, Bush in general and conservatives in particular surely have a problem. Which is not to say that Democrats don't have their own problems, some of which are discussed here.

Of course, this may all change after Miers' confirmation hearings. She may express herself wonderfully and woo the conservatives to her side in them. I rather doubt it, but anything could happen.

A note on sources: Personally, I think Michelle Malkin and Ann Coulter merely lower the level of discourse, as a rule. Just because I link to someone doesn't mean I think everything they say is true. I link because it illustrates a point or is worthy of thought. On the other hand, I admire the contributors at the Volokh Conspiracy for the quality of their blogging, even if I don't always agree with them.