[hummingbird]

Nobody seems to want to wait for the hearings, which kind of makes me question why we even have them.

I know. At this point, civil discussion & debate over the process would seem appropriate. Waiting for the make-it-or-break-it hearings would also seem appropriate.

Currently, we seem to be in a vitriolic pre-hearing stage, largely ratcheted up by the media; you know, the media that is particularly unfriendly to conservative ideology.

The media that never tires of busting our chops by dividing everyone against everyone else and bringing public discourse down to the lowest common denominator is what is running this show. The media that never tires of leaks, gossip and ginning up the game so that all participants are screaming at one another like Morton Downey, Jr.

It isn't even tiresome anymore; they are purely the rag of the far left wing of the Democrat Party.

Your mileage may vary.

[inquest]

Currently, we seem to be in a vitriolic pre-hearing stage, largely ratcheted up by the media

The fact that the media are reporting on this doesn't mean they're "ratcheting it up". Their job is to report the news, and it's definitely news that there's such an unprecedented level of conservative opposition to something a Republican President has done. The Republican Party hasn't been this divided in decades.

And generally speaking, up till now there's generally been a lack of media coverage of intraconservative dissension, despite the rather large quantity of it in response to the adminstration's policies on spending and the borders. Reporting on that would damage their carefully crafted image of Bush being an "extreme right-winger".

As for the vitriol, the pro-Miers side certainly has provided its share. Thread after thread features the same crowd coming on to disrupt the discussion with the most inane ad hominem BS. Rational discussion of this would be nice, but it most certainly isn't only the anti-Miers side that's guilty of obstructing of it.