Cowgirl Harriet Hoedown

The nomination of Harriet Miers sure is confusing! This may have been W's last chance to bench-stack state's rights justices that would please the religious extremists. This choice runs counter to the cartoonish spin of many liberal bloggers (such as local Cincinnati Blog) -- who promote a predictable image of Snidely Whiplash Republicans who puff cigars, and only enjoy the reigns of power because of their nefarious alliance with yee-haw bible lovers.

Does Miers know where the bodies are buried? Is this all a political favor? Well ... conspiratorial, black-helicopter explanations get flimsy when you consider the protracted grilling that every nomination must endure. Democratic staffers from across the fruited plains converge to analyze every scrap of information about her life, from client records to Chinese take-out receipts.

Conservatives are lukewarm at best. And savvy liberals like Kos are suggesting that this is a function of a weakened presidency. Certainly we would have seen a more true-blue hardliner if W was above a 40% approval. But I wonder if there isn't some truth in the notion that Bush Junior, like Pappa, isn't really a bible-belt conservative - and that when it comes to a place in the history books, a WASP sense of propriety overrides the need to appeal to the bible-toting barbarians.

UPDATE: NixGuy sees reason for conservative hope, given Miers' affiliation with a church that has a literal interpretation of the bible. Could that foretell her view of the constitution? Certainly it will cut both ways, as this is likely to become a hot topic at the Senate interrogation.