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Democratic Reaction to Miers withdrawal is predictably hysterial (SeanRobins.com)
As we could have predicted with every sensory ogran in the body tied behind our backs, the reaction by Democrats to the withdrawal of the Miers nomination, at her request, is predictably hysterical to observe. Their reactions demonstrate not only a complete lack of consistency and principle, but the utter depths of the stark terror which they are today experiencing, knowing now that conservatives are united in their determination that the next nominee for the Supreme Court be not only a true conservative, but one which will strictly interpret the Constitution. Not only are they upset about the prospects for the next nominee, but the more the libs learned about Miers' positions on social issues, the more they had begun to salivate at the prospect of her confirmation. Today is not a good day for Democrats.

Here is just a sampling of what some of the usual suspects have said today--most as posted on their own official web sites:

Howard Dean - "President Bush's failure to stand up to the right wing of his party and defend Harriet Miers is the latest collapse of leadership at the Bush White House. In nominating Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court, President Bush had an obligation to do everything possible to support her. President Bush failed in that duty, leaving the Miers nomination to die on the vine."

Harry Reid - "The radical right wing of the Republican Party killed the Harriet Miers nomination. Apparently, Ms. Miers did not satisfy those who want to pack the Supreme Court with rigid ideologues. . . . In choosing a replacement for Ms. Miers, President Bush should not reward the bad behavior of his right wing base."

Barbara Boxer - "The withdrawal of the nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court is the consequence of a rushed Presidential decision with virtually no consultation with the Senate. . . . This country deserves better than an arrogant Executive Branch that ignores the constitutionally-mandated advice and consent role of the Senate."

Joe Biden - "Clearly, she is a woman of accomplishment, and she has been treated very unfairly by those who created a caricature in an effort to undermine her. I hope the President can withstand the demands of extremists to select a nominee who meets their litmus tests and, instead, pick someone who can gain strong bipartisan support in the Senate and across the country."

Hillary Clinton - "I hope that the President honors the Constitution’s mandate and seeks the “advice and consent” of the Senate as he considers his next nominee to serve on the Supreme Court. Whomever he chooses must be a guardian of the rule of law who puts fairness and justice before ideology. I urge the President to take seriously the Constitution’s charge and to engage the U.S. Senate – both Republicans and Democrats – in a process of genuine consultation in order to identify and ultimately confirm a consensus nominee."

Barack Obama - "She probably was watching the World Series and said, `You know what? I don't feel like coming up with this questionnaire. Forget it. ... I'd rather watch the game."

Dick Durbin - "You know, in politics, for most major decisions there's a good reason and a real reason. . . . The real reason, of course, is that Harriet Miers ran into withering criticism from the right wing of the Republican Party and the president decided to withdraw her nomination."

Diane Feinstein - "There were serious questions especially concerning her independence from the White House. . . . I call on the President to name a nominee in the mainstream of American jurisprudence, who can help bring this nation together and demonstrate a scrupulous knowledge of the law and a judicial temperament that enables support by both sides of the political aisle."

Patrick Leahy - "I look forward to consulting with the President on his third nominee to succeed Sandra Day O’Connor on the Supreme Court, and I hope it is a decision he approaches with the necessary independence from partisan factions."

Ted Kennedy - "The Harriet Miers confirmation process has been one of the most unusual and troubling Supreme Court nominations in our modern history. The loudest voices heard in this process were the voices of the extreme factions of the President's own political party. They had a litmus test, and they decided Harriet Miers didn't meet that test even before giving her a fair chance to have her own voice heard. . . . The more Ms. Miers' record indicated that she might in fact be personally committed to the basic constitutional rights and liberties that make our country what it is for all Americans, the more committed those extreme groups and their partisan voices in the media became to prevent her nomination from being confirmed by the Senate. . . . The fact that the White House and Senate Republicans were not willing to stand up for principle and fairness against the extremists in their midst should be disturbing to all Americans."

John F. Kerry - "Caught up in a wave of scandal and concerns about the war in Iraq, the President has allowed right wing interest groups to decide the fate of his Supreme Court nominee rather than stand up to his ultra conservative base. It's a telling statement about the instability and ideological confusion facing the White House and the Republican Party. . . . If the President really believed Harriet Miers was the most qualified candidate for the Supreme Court, he made a terrible mistake refusing to fight for her and capitulating to the right wing."

Chuck Schumer - "There is now one clear path for the President, to choose a knowledgeable and mainstream successor in the mold of Sandra Day O'Connor."

Withdrawn - Terence Hunt (AP)
Under withering attack from conservatives, President Bush abandoned his push to put loyalist Harriet Miers on the Supreme Court and promised a quick replacement Thursday. Democrats accused him of bowing to the "radical right wing of the Republican Party." The White House said Miers had withdrawn because of senators' demands to see internal documents related to her role as counsel to the president. But politics played a larger role: Bush's conservative backers had doubts about her ideological purity, and Democrats had little incentive to help the nominee or the embattled GOP president.

Miers Withdrawal Letter - Harriet Miers
Dear Mr. President: I write to withdraw as a nominee to serve as an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States. I have been greatly honored and humbled by the confidence that you have shown in me, and have appreciated immensely your support and the support of many others. However, I am concerned that the confirmation process presents a burden for the White House and our staff that is not in the best interest of the country.

President Bush's acceptance of Mier's withdrawal - George W. Bush
Today, I have reluctantly accepted Harriet Miers decision to withdraw her nomination to the Supreme Court of the United States. nominated Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court because of her extraordinary legal experience, her character, and her conservative judicial philosophy. Throughout her career, she has gained the respect and admiration of her fellow attorneys. She has earned a reputation for fairness and total integrity. She has been a leader and a pioneer in the American legal profession. She has worked in important positions in state and local government and in the bar. And for the last five years, she has served with distinction and honor in critical positions in the Executive Branch.

Details about U.N. oil-for-food kickbacks coming - Warren Hoge (New York Times)
More than 4,500 companies took part in the United Nations oil-for-food program and more than half of them paid illegal surcharges and kickbacks to Saddam Hussein, according to the independent committee investigating the program. The country with the most companies involved in the program was Russia, followed by France, the committee says in a report to be released Thursday. The inquiry was led by Paul A. Volcker, former chairman of the Federal Reserve Board. The findings are in the committee's fifth and final report, a document of more than 500 pages that will detail how outside companies from more than 60 countries were able to evade United Nations controls and make money for themselves as well as for the Hussein government.

Criminal: More than 2,000 of 4,500 firms involved in oil-for-food kickbacks - Edith M. Lederer (AP)
More than 2,000 companies made about $1.8 billion in illicit payments to Saddam Hussein's government through extensive manipulation of the U.N. oil-for-food program in Iraq, according to key findings of a U.N.-backed investigation. The report--to be released in full Thursday by the committee probing claims of wrongdoing in the $64 billion program--indicates that about half the 4,500 companies doing business with Iraq paid illegal surcharges on oil purchases or kickbacks on contracts to supply humanitarian goods.

Leakgate law author blasts Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald (NewsMax.com)
The former deputy assistant attorney general who helped draft the 1982 Intelligence Identities Protection Act blasted Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald on Wednesday, saying he may be getting "creative with law" in order to justify questionable indictments. "If you don't have a clear violation, you should not become what's called 'creative with the law,'" Toensing told ABC Radio host Sean Hannity, after noting that the statute she co-authored was never intended to apply to cases like Leakgate."

Many knew Plame was CIA (NewsMax.com)
Leakgate prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald has finally gotten around to asking Valerie Plame's neighbors if they had any idea that she worked at the CIA. "FBI agents as recently as Monday night interviewed at least two people in her D.C. neighborhood," reports the Washington Post. "The agents were attempting to determine whether the neighbors knew that Plame worked for the CIA before she was unmasked with the help of senior Bush administration officials. Two neighbors said they told the FBI they had been surprised to learn she was a CIA operative." While Plame's occupation may have surprised her two neighbors, others say the fact that she worked at the CIA was well known.

Israel calls for expulsion of Iran from U.N. (AP)
Israel's vice prime minister said Iran should be expelled from the United Nations after its new president said Israel should be "wiped off the map," and Britain summoned an Iranian diplomat Thursday to protest the remarks. Italy on Thursday also condemned the words of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, telling the Iranian ambassador the comments were "unacceptable" and that they confirm worries over the political positions - and nuclear intentions - of Iran's new leadership. Shimon Peres, Israel's vice prime minister and a Nobel peace laureate, said it was "impossible to ignore" Ahmadinejad's comments. "Since the United Nations was established in 1945, there has never been a head of state that is a U.N. member state that publicly called for the elimination of another U.N. member state," Shimon Peres told Israel Radio.

Hillary proposes massive new gasoline taxes (NewsMax.com)
2008 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said yesterday that she backs a plan to hike gasoline taxes through the roof. Speaking to a group of alternative energy investors in Washington, D.C., Clinton proposed to sock oil companies with $20 billion in new fees that would be used to fund research on clean energy - driving up costs for oil producers that they would inevitably pass along to consumers.

Iran's President: Israel should be "wiped off the map" - Gareth Smyth (Financial Times)
Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad, Iran’s fundamentalist president, on Wednesday declared that Israel should be “wiped off the map” and warned Arab countries against developing economic ties with Israel in response to its withdrawal from Gaza. His remarks, delivered at a conference in Tehran entitled “A World without Zionism”, led to diplomatic protests by the UK, France and Spain, while Shimon Peres, Israel’s deputy prime minister, said Iran should be expelled from the United Nations.

Open borders group demands tuition benefits for illegal aliens in Massachusetts (DiscovertheNetworks.org)
On Tuesday, October 25, a pro-open borders organization called the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy (MIRA) coalition staged a demonstration of "400 supporters to represent the number of Massachusetts high-school graduates every year who are denied access to higher education." "Let's show the legislature that everyone deserves the right to an education," MIRA declared. The unmistakable implication is that a great injustice is being perpetrated against several hundred young adults each year who, for some unjustifiable reason, are barred from the halls of academe. But what is in fact at issue, behind MIRA's righteous sounding allegations about the denial of "access to higher education," is an In-State Tuition for Immigrant Students in Massachusetts bill that would allow high-school graduates who are illegal aliens residing in Massachusetts to attend public state colleges for the same reduced tuition rates that other Massachusetts residents pay.

The Press: Whose side are you on? - David Horowitz (FrontPageMagazine.com)
In war, the first order of business is to know whose side you are on, and who is on yours. In the case of the war to defeat the terrorists and establish a democratic government in Iraq, the answer is not always easy to come by. Take the American press. Take the Los Angeles Times. On Wednesday, October 26, 2005, the main headline spread across two columns of Times was “U.S. Death Toll In Iraq Hits 2,000.” The sub-headline began “Antiwar protesters plan demonstrations…” Two photos centered at the top of the front page showed President Bush declaring that “Iraq has made incredible political progress from tyranny to liberation to national elections” and an “anti-war” activist lighting 2,000 candles for the dead. Underneath the two photos a three-column story headlined “A Deadly Surge” began, “A year and a half ago, at the first anniversary of the U.S. occupation of Iraq, the death rate for American troops accelerated. Since then, none of the political milestones or military stratregies proclaimed by U.S. officials have succeeded in slowing the death toll.

Where cronies on the left can be found - John Tierney (Austin American-Statesman)
The left has a lock on journalism and law schools. Journalists and legal scholars have been decrying "cronyism" and calling for "mainstream" values when picking a Supreme Court justice. But how do they go about picking the professors to train the next generation of journalists and lawyers? David Horowitz, the conservative who is president of the Center for the Study of Popular Culture, analyzed the political affiliations of the faculty at 18 elite journalism and law schools. By checking all the party registrations he could find, he found that Democrats outnumber Republicans by 8 to 1 at the law schools, with the ratio ranging from 3 to 1 at Penn to 28 to 1 at Stanford.