The next pick for the Supreme Court is...

Harriet Miers. And so far, the response is strong. Many conservatives have knee-jerked into a position of fear over this pick. For the time being, I will also call myself a skeptic, but I am hopeful. I placed my vote in President Bush last year because I believe I can trust him; to this point, I have but a few political quibbles with the president and do not feel that he has yet committed a catastrophic mistake. Like Chief Justice John Roberts, Miers is relatively unknown, and despite no experience as a judge, she has headed a law firm and has been given enough confidence to be elected head of the Texas state bar. There remain some concerns that she gave money to Al Gore in 1988, but reports also suggest that she has given money to Republican candidates since.

It may take some time for many to accept this pick, particuarly as there is some uncertainty. Still, Vice President Cheney went on Rush Limbaugh and had this to say.

I'm confident that she has a conservative judicial philosophy that you will be comfortable with, Rush... You'll be proud of Harriet's record. Trust me.

Could this be another stealth pick by President Bush, making it difficult for Senate Democrats to block? For now, I'll choose to remain optimistic, but cautious, with this nomination.

UPDATE 5:30 PM: I do remember that conservative values in government size and spending have not been very strong for President Bush; I will fault him on this. However, I think this is a problem that goes beyond President Bush in the Republican ranks. While he has done little to help in terms of the budget deficits, this additional spending is far from catastrophic, and some of it comes from unfortunate incidents such as September 11th and hurricane relief, issues that required immediate attention regardless of readily available (or the lack thereof) revenue.