[dirtboy]

Since when is the President supposed to put his surrogate on the Court, which is a separate and independent branch of government?

Gee, like Nixon did with Rehnquist?

Cripes, associates of the president have been named to SCOTUS numerous times.

[born in the Bronx]

Nixon isn't exactly a great role model where ethics are concerned. Anyway, Rehnquist wasn't nearly as close to Nixon as Miers is to GWB.
Frankly, one of the things that troubles me is that at the press conference, Dubya explictly said that Miers would "vote the way I would." In the current political climate, to essentially say that you're going to put your puppet on the court is a fatal error. The fact that she has NONE of the qualifications that normally make up a SCOTUS resume (regardless of her actual ability) only compounds the problem. He might get away with either a "crony" or an apparently lackluster nominee, but to combine them in one person is disastrous.

[Spiff]

Cripes, associates of the president have been named to SCOTUS numerous times.

So, which cronies were appointed after decades of hard work by conservative Republicans who finally were able to win control of the House, Senate, and White House? Which cronies were appointed after a president promised his base that he would appoint someone "in the mold of" two constitutional scholars of national stature? Which cronies were appointed to the court after decades of malfeasant and destructive decisions that were based on the whims of the liberal extremist judicial activists on the court?