Two Ladies...

So obviously, the big news of the week has to be the appointment of Harriet Meiers to the Supreme Court, and the surprising conservative response to it. I had no problem with the nomination of Roberts on an intellectual standpoint. He obviously has more then met the qualifications, intellectually, to sit on the bench and to be chief. But here, we have someone who is stunningly underqualified. Not only has she no experience as a judge, but no experience as a constitutional scholar either. That's scary, especially for someone who will likely face all kinds of questions from Conservative groups wanting to take us back to pre-Griswold v. Connecticut days. It seems fairly clear that George Bush picked her because he knew her, that was it.

Usually, in situations like this, you would have conservative groups rallying to the flag, trying to protect Miers from questions about her competence, trying to deflect criticism. Well, we obviously haven't seen much of that. What we've seen is an incredibly palpable sense of betrayal, the sense that Conservatives have waited decades for this nomination, one that could swing the court, and potentially bring back illegal abortion, overturn Miranda, Griswold and affirmative action. Conservatives have spent billions in treasure and decades of work in getting producing legal scholars beholden to their point of view, now, rather than going for one of those, Bush grabs someone out of Texas, someone he personally knows, which seems to be her only qualification (and spare me the comparisons to William O. Douglas, who played cards with FDR before he got nominated. Douglas was beyond brilliant, he was one of the foremost legal minds of this century, and one of the last great liberal voices on the court.). I guess if I had waited all that time, I too, might feel betrayed.

One quick word on the Britney Spears news this week. Its incredible to me the fall Britney has taken in the public eye. I recall that after her third album was released, Britney appeared at a Michael Jackson concert on CBS, taking over the role of the object of MJ's affection in "The Way You Make Me Feel." CBS promoted the appearance as that of "the hottest female star in the world," and they were probably right, at the time. But then came the breakup with Justin, and it all fell apart. No one, I think has ever won a breakup in Hollywood the way Justin Timberlake did. Not only did he get sympathy from people, but he got the ultimate revenge in the "Cry Me a River" video, one that's stuck with Spears ever since. Justin went from the "boyfriend of..." to the main attraction, Spears went from America's Sweetheart to Little Girl Lost. Justin recovered from the Superbowl incident, and dates Cameron Diaz. Britney got married, got that annulled, dated (or slept with) Colin Farrell, Fred Durst (maybe) and other not so fabulous characters. The kiss with Madonna, if it did anything, lowered her in the eyes of people, they didn't expect her to do it, and they felt that she shouldn't have, which I think turned so many people on her. Now, she's married to probably the scuzziest man on the planet, one who not only seems a significant step down from her level, but from the level of the guy she married first. K-Fed just seems to be the least well thought of guy on the planet, and the way the two of them dress when they go out, as if they'd just gotten up from a nap in the double-wide, doesn't help things either...neither does K-Fed walking around with that "undeserved sense of accomplishment" (thank you Family Guy).