Sorry, jdm, but you're wrong. Perhaps you misunderstood the quote you highlighted in your post #5:
"Without mentioning the Bush nominee by name, the conservative legal icon (Scalia) said that the High Court needed someone who had never served as a judge to take the place of the late Chief Justice William Rehnquist."
Chief Justice Roberts served on the appeals bench before being tapped for the Supreme Court. Scalia goes on to say the following in the article:
"Scalia concludes: "I don't think that's a good thing. I think the Byron Whites, the Lewis Powells and the Bill Rehnquists have contributed to the court even though they didn't sit on a lower federal court."
Scalia is talking about Miers, who did not serve as a judge on any lower court. (BTW, neither did 31 other justices of the Supreme Court before they were nominated.)
He was talking about a hypothetical situation under which someone like Miers would be nominated for the Supreme Court.
Did you Bush Bots actually believe that Antonin Scalia-a sitting justice-would publicly criticize the president's choice, let alone come forward with a full-throated denunciation of her?
How delusional can you get?