The pressure being piled onto Harriet Miers right now strikes me as inappropriate, and bordering on public bullying:
Some conservatives have called on the president to withdraw her nomination, and a few have urged senators to vote against her. If the president withdrew the nomination, we believe that he would seek a replacement who could unite conservatives – as he no doubt expected Miers to unite them. But that nominee would be tarnished, perhaps fatally, by the suspicion that the president was forced to pander to the Right. The president, moreover, surely does not want to risk looking less than strong and steadfast. The prudent course is for Miers to withdraw her own nomination in the interests of the president she loyally serves.
Miers has been nominated. The president made the decision. If her nomination is to die, then the president should make that call; and take responsibility for it. Trying to force Miers to fall on her own sword for the sake of the “conservative movement,” whatever that means any more, seems deeply unfair to me. Besides, I thought the Republican mantra has been clear in the past for judicial nominations: they should all be allowed an up-or-down vote in the Senate. Miers should be given a chance to testify; or the president should withdraw his nomination. Those are the honorable courses. The bullies at NRO can go pull a Cheney.
The Dish 