On suffering a heart attack from non-surprise

Okay, so the big news (slow news day, I s'pose) today is that Harriet Miers has withdrawn her nomination for Supreme Court justice. Now, I'll admit that I'm kind of disappointed; I have no reason whatsoever to think that she'd be a good justice, and the only thing going for her right now is the fact that she hasn't had the opportunity to suck as a judge, but I thought that confirmation hearings would be interesting, at least. Plus, her mere status as a nominee was giving Republicans one big collective conniption fit*, and those are always fun to watch.

Here's what amuses me, though:

“It is clear that senators would not be satisfied until they gained access to internal documents concerning advice provided during her tenure at the White House — disclosures that would undermine a president’s ability to receive candid counsel,” Bush said. “Harriet Miers’ decision demonstrates her deep respect for this essential aspect of the constitutional separation of powers — and confirms my deep respect and admiration for her.”

Mr. Bush, if you don't want people digging through your personal papers in the course of a background check, maybe you need to stop nominating people who are privy to your personal papers. Sweet moonwalking Buddha. Thus is the price of cronyism, Slick. Nominate your bestest bud for a highly important government position, and it's likely that your name is going to come in confirmation hearings at least once or twice. The way to get around that, of course, is to try to nominate people based on their actual qualifications, not the fact that they think you're supercool and the best president in the world ever and ever, for serious. It might take a little bit of extra homework, but you've got plenty of advisers to help you make good, or at least Republican-acceptable, decisions. And you'll be glad you spent the extra time when your nom steps up for his confirmation hearings and you don't have to run tuck your top-secret documents and Aquaman first-edition comic books under the mattress.

*Redundant southernism