Nomination politics: If you've got a nominee so good you can just taste Ruth Bader Ginsburgs tears, f*ck the base. If you've got so much political capital you don't know what to do with it, f*the media. If all you've got are sagging poll numbers and criticism from both sides (some of it legitimate, some purely crap) you may have to say f*uck your friends.

I was never a fan of the "nuclear option" in the Senate so I sympathize with the need to nominate someone confirmable. I just think Bush got played like a banjo on this one. The left gets to look all cooperative and shit by (grudgingly) approving another nominee and showing how bipartisan they are, while the press plays the cronyism tune for three weeks. All to get a justice that may make Sandra Day O'Connor look like a fantasy pick in The Corner.

Whether it's laziness, as Razor charges, or Bush's political tin ear still ringing from Katrina, I think this is a misstep for the admin. Not the first or the last, but probably the most avoidable.