Conservative Talk Radio and Blogging…Success Has Its Price…

Major Mike

I am shocked that all of the carping about the Miers nomination has not yet died down. I tried (poorly) to make this point on the HH show last night.

The near-rabid following of conservatives with their favorite radio talk show hosts and blogs, has begot an unforeseen by-product…an informed audience who now believes that because they are “informed,” that they are somehow, other than by their vote in the general election, entitled to specific input into a process that they are not part of.

I consider myself pretty well informed, but I couldn’t put together a list of qualified SCOTUS nominees, no more than I could immediately assemble a list of qualified brain surgeons. I, like most of the carpers, pundits, and bloggers, got my info from sources I trust…HH, and others, who bring on qualified guests; those who write compelling blog pieces; and others who opine on whom they believe the President…should, might, will… pick to serve in specific vacancies. So, I get drawn into the discussion. I begin to form my opinion. And I actually come to view myself as somewhat of a SCOTUS Nominee Possibility Expert.

Then, I get thrown for a loop. She is not on my list!!! Am I mad about the choice, or by the fact that she is not on my list, and that my last three weeks of ruminations have been for naught? So, rather than accepting that the only person in the country who is entitled to make the pick…the only person elected as President…happened to make a pick I hadn't considered…I decide to complain and bicker about it.

This is about the only way I can explain the near supersonic speed at which the venom was directed at this fairly unknown candidate. It smacks of a knee-jerk reaction. All of the ire was about possibilities and potentials…I still have yet to hear of one, solid, fact-based example that suggests firmly that Harriet Miers will be another Justice Souter. I hear only what-ifs and postulations.

Sorry, my crystal ball broke last week…can I borrow yours?

I have no idea how Harriet Miers will turn out, but do I know that between the President’s track record in selecting judges, the confirmation process itself, and more importantly, the structure of the court, that in the end, Harriet Miers is unlikely to single-handedly undermine conservative efforts to any real degree, regardless of how her eventual voting legacy is analyzed.

Let’s quit fragmenting the Party. Let’s let this work itself out, so that we can make conclusions based on what we get from the process and Harriet Miers, not what is planted in our heads by bloggers and talk show hosts. Geez…seems fair.