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This is not just an unfriendly press corps. This is a desperate, evil press corps tasked with bringing down the administration by their liberal masters.

From the moment Bush was first elected President, they have had a single mission; to avenge the impeachment of Bill Clinton. There used to be a line drawn between the personal, and the professional. Not anymore.

Nominees are humans and as such, they make mistakes just like you and me. I would not want the world to know about some of my own mistakes, and I am sure you wouldn't either.

If the MSM thought they could use a nominee's personal information to hurt Bush, they would do so in an instant. Nothing is safe anymore. Information on anyone is available to anyone wishing to pay for it. That is the world we live in. Look what Chuck Schumer's people tried to do to that black Republican in Maryland. No outrage from the left at all. Nor would their be if someone's life was destroyed because they wanted to be on the Supreme Court at a time when Bush's enemies are out for blood.

From my perspective the Bork and Thomas hearings were sort of the commencement of this current fight.

This country has always been politically contentious to greater or lesser degrees, based on the world-view division of the general population.

My comments are not intended to imply this is new—just that it is at a hysterical, fever pitch, mostly due to Roe v. Wade and other "social justice" issues on the left...and the consternation over extraconstitutional judges on the right.

Miers did not answer either group's questions. The vacuum inflamed the overall hysteria. If one of the "conservative approved judges" had been nominated, the viciousness of the attacks from the left would have been extreme, personal and life-ruining because the confirmation of that judge would openly and aggressively change the dynamics on the court.

An openly conservative nominee would have created a very bloody fight, which to be honest is what we were all kind of looking forward to—with both the left and the right believing that most Americans are on their side. IMO, we both may be fooling ourselves a little bit. But, I have been wrong many times and may be underestimating the interest of the non-politically active citizen.

I believe some candidates just didn't want to stand squarely in the crossfire. Once the dynamic on the court HAS changed, the fight will be less aggressive and those same people might consider the job again.

Actually, it was not until the mid-50s that any nominee for the Supreme Court actually testified in person before Senate Judiciary. The vivisection of nominees, including in the press, is a new, and bad, phenomenon.

Congressman Billybob

Latest column: "Hillary Knew, David Knew, Only the Post Reporter Was in the Dark"

This type of intense press scrutiny has only occurred since the Robert Bork nomination, and then only to Republican nominees. The digging through trash method of reporting came into being with the Clintons, and we have had to live with it ever since.

Why do you think that Linda Chavez had to withdraw her name? Why do you think that Bernard Kerrik is not heading Homelanad Security? Do you not remember the DUI that almost got the President de-railed?

If you go back 45 years, John F. Kennedy could nominate his BROTHER for attorney general, and the press was mum on cronyism. Kennedy could do all sorts of scandalous and reckless things, but not a word was ever printed.

This type of scrutiny and character destruction has been increasing since the Reagan era, and the press has perfected it. The minute a nominee is named, reporters comb through school records, courthouses, and church registries. They pretend they are "just trying to let people understand who the nominee is" but what they are doing is digging for dirt. They interview everyone from the Sunday school teacher to the barber. They ask schoolmates to tell about times the candidate got in trouble. Heavens, Roberts' home town in northern Indiana was attacked because it was too white!

Back in my childhood, Supreme Court nominations were no big deal...they made a 30-second mention on the nightly news and that was it. Now, because the left has politicized the courts, every single nomination seems like a constitutional crisis.