Below The Beltway

As the vultures continue to circle over the nomination of Harriet Miers, the White House is dismissing critics of the nomination calling for its withdrawal
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The White House on Thursday dismissed critics of Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers who want her to withdraw from consideration amid new questions about her conservative credentials.
Spokesman Scott [...]

As I noted earlier today, President Bush stated earlier today that Harriet Miers’ religious faith was one of the motivating factors for her nomination. Obviously realizing the problems that this statement creates, the White House is now backtracking from the statement.
WASHINGTON (CNN) — President Bush suggested Wednesday that Harriet Miers’ evangelical Christian beliefs were part [...]

Both Glenn Reynolds and Stephen Bainbridge are running polls about the Miers nomination on their blogs. Internet polls are not scientific, obviously, but they are interesting and, currently at least, things aren’t looking good for the Administration.
You can vote in Instapundit’s poll here and view the results here.
Professor Bainbridge’s poll is posted here and the [...]

Via the Smoking Gun we have copies of correspondence between Harriet Miers and George W. Bush during the time Bush was Governor of Texas.
Heh

In a press statement today, President Bush revealed one of the reasons he believes Harriet Miers is the best choice for the Supreme Court. If anything, its likely to cause more controversy.
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Bush said Wednesday that Harriet Miers’ religious beliefs figured into her nomination to the Supreme Court as a top-ranking Democrat [...]

KJ at No Government Cheese has posted this excellent essay with his answer to President Bush’s request to “Trust me” when it comes to the selection of Harriet Miers for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.
Should we trust Bush on this subject? In a word: NO.
Think for a moment about the Supreme Court decisions of [...]

The world woke up today to news that China had launched its second manned mission into space, sending two astronauts into space for a five day mission.
The launch, which went off without a hitch at 9 a.m., fit into an ambitious program to establish a permanent orbiting laboratory and land an unmanned vehicle on the [...]

In today’s Washington Times, Bruce Fein goes after the critics of the critics.
The patently lame arguments of defenders of Harriet Miers’ O Henry-like surprise nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court confirm her unsuitability. She should graciously withdraw and spare the Supreme Court and herself embarrassment.
According to the owlish observation of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, [...]