Miers gets borked

... and by none other than Bork himself.

A wonderful headline, written by my friend Prairie Weather (whose weather turned a bit more even than ours here in H-Town) and containing the excerpt from ABCNews.com:

Among conservatives, William Kristol, editor of The Weekly Standard, and the anti-abortion group Operation Rescue called for Bush to withdraw the Miers nomination. Former federal judge Robert Bork whose nomination to the Supreme Court the Senate rejected in 1987 described the choice of Miers as "a disaster on every level."

"It's a little late to develop a constitutional philosophy or begin to work it out when you're on the court already," Bork said on "The Situation" on MSNBC. "It's kind of a slap in the face to the conservatives who've been building up a conservative legal movement for the last 20 years."

Assembling to talk about preventing the next cluster

That's the traffic jam I was in a couple of weeks ago -- I-45 northbound, from Houston to Dallas. Apparently there's going to be task forces and committees and meetings to talk about improving the process of evacuating millions of people the next time it becomes necessary to do so.

I certainly hope they get something accomplished.

Update (10/11): Charles Kuffner and Stace Medellin follow up with good thoughts on the subject.

More indictment rumors swirling -- this time in D.C.

There are two different sources posting scuttlebutt this afternoon regarding indictments, Karl Rove, and the Plame case.

That's right; blog postings about the fact that there are rumors that there will be indictments. Perhaps, after the last few weeks, it's just too good to be true.

Then again, a man can dream ...

Update: The Washington Post reports that yes, rumors are certainly swirling.

Update II (10/6, a.m.): Think Progress lists the 21 administration officials involved in Leakgate, and details their whereabouts, actions, grand jury appearances, etc.

Update III (10/6, p.m.): NYT ...

Stephen Gillers, a New York University law professor, said it was unusual for a witness to be called back to the grand jury four times and that the prosecutor's legally required warning to Rove before this next appearance is ''an ominous sign'' for the presidential adviser.

''It suggest Fitzgerald has learned new information that is tightening the noose,'' Gillers said. ''It shows Fitzgerald now, perhaps after Miller's testimony, suspects Rove may be in some way implicated in the revelation of Plame's identity or that Fitzgerald is investigating various people for obstruction of justice, false statements or perjury. That is the menu of risk for Rove.''

Executive privileges

From the NYT's report on the President's press conference today:

Bush also sent a clear signal that he would resist, on grounds of executive privilege, providing senators documents related to Ms. Miers's work in the White House. At least some Democrats are likely to seek such records, especially since Miers, who has never been a judge, has no "paper trail" of opinions.

"I just can't tell you how important it is for us to guard executive privilege in order for there to be crisp decision-making in the White House," Bush said.

The Constitution does not specifically mention executive privilege, but the Supreme Court has recognized the need for confidentiality between high government officials and their advisers. The court has concluded, however, that executive privilege is not absolute.

How about that; there's no right to 'executive privilege' in the Constitution. Now is that the same thing as 'privacy'?

Sauce for the goose ...

Just when you thought the news couldn't get any worse for the GOP...

Tom DeLay gets a second indictment.

And I was all set to write about how Harriet Miers was involved in the coverup of George Bush's TANG records, when it was revealed that, while she was the boss of one of Dallas' largest law firms, she was either involved in a Ponzi scheme or was too stupid to know it was going on.

And the hits just keep on comin' ...

Harriet Miers

Who?

No judicial experience? A 60-year-old unmarried woman who zealously guards her privacy, who donated to Al Gore's campaign, who once said Bush "was the most brilliant man she ever met"?

I want lots of questions asked of, and answered by, this nominee.

And I expect the Senate, including my two GOP toadies, and especially the 22 Democrats who voted for John Roberts, to zealously act in that regard.

Update: David Frum has already removed his quotation of Miers listed above. Thanks to the wonders of technology, we have his original paragraph saved here.