I don't think the reputation of judges needs much more of your conspiracy theory "dragging down" - they've done that just fine by themselves, thank you.
As for Bush's responsibility, it goes way beyond him. The courts have been dictating all domestic policy (and are creeping into international policy) in the US for many a long year now, and the other two branches have let them get away with it, one decision at a time.
I don't think it's too late to fight back, but it's not going to be easy, and we've got to light a fire under our elected reps. That will give them a bit of backbone.
To have stopped Judge Greer from usurping Executive-branch power would not have been "an assault on the judcial branch" -- it would have been an assault on an unconstitutional power grab. Since Jeb and the GOP weren't interested in stopping Greer's power grab in order to save Terri's life, I really doubt that we're going to see, in the near or distant future, a genuine effort to rein in unconstitutional arrogance by the courts. There will be the usual rhetorical bones thrown to conservatives, but, as one freeper suggested yesterday, the politicians actually LIKE having courts assume legislative and executive power, because it takes hot potatoes off the politicians' hands. They can say, "It's a court order, i''m not responsible and there's nothing I can do about it."
This case, having destroyed the credibility of the GOP, will make reigning in the judiciary much more difficult, as well as increase the difficulty of banning gay marriage.
That is the result of allowing emotion and thoughtlessness to get the upper hand. The willingness of the GOP to pander to these forces is an unmitigated disaster.