MIERS? HELL TO THE NO: BTW, no, I can find no defense, excuse, or justification for the Miers nomination. This just seems like a big blunder, and it seems -- better than anything that preceded it, in my humble opinion -- to verify the best and most long-running refrain of the Bush opposition: He's simply not a competent leader. Nice enough guy? Sure. Good basic values? I think so. Healthy? You bet your ass! Smart?

Not so much, and not really a judgement call anymore, thanks to this nomination. Bush seems to have pulled back the curtain on himself.

Put politics aside, whether or not you're for the war or against it, whether or not you want to overturn Roe Vs. Wade or protect it...this Miers nomination simply doesn't seem like something a responsible leader would do. Granted, all leaders blunder at one time or another, but this one is just so darn big and comes in the face of so many other miscalculations...

Peggy Noonan offers some ideas for an exit strategy for Bush & Co. Regardless, there is no do-over button in the White House. This latest blunder seems particularly sticky, simply because it's so easy to set aside politics and see it for what it is: a dumb, unserious, arrogant, and irresponsible choice. Nothing against Miers -- she sounds like a nice, driven, and accomplished person -- but there's no way she's the appropriate choice, regardless of her views. I remember the hubbub over Thomas, whether or not he had the intellectual chutzpah and the resume for the gig -- and he seems like a giant compared to Miers.

Meanwhile, I'm really starting to look forward to '08. Here's the mantra that will win it for one side or the other: Competent Management. We're going to elect a CEO-in-Chief this next time around, someone who is longer on management and responsibility than on vision and charisma. To me, this suggests the Dems might rally around Clinton or Gore, and the Republicans might coalesce around Giuliani or...dare I say it...Haley Barbour. If that's the case, Giuliani will run on his crime reduction and crisis management; Clinton will run on her Spock-like coldness and efficiency; Gore will play up his private sector work and his behind-the-scenes efficiency work in the Clinton administration; and Haley Barbour will occupy the Southern X-factor role, buoyed by the fact that he seems to have been the only statesman of Giuliani-esque proportion during the Katrina crisis.

I handicap it down to Gore versus Giuliani, with Gore verbally anesthetizing us all the way to the White House.

I keep hearing that McCain can't win the Republican nomination, but if I had my druthers today -- if I could personally pick the next president -- I think he'd be my guy.