You know what you almost never see? Somebody heckling a diver.

Back in July, I wrote that this quote about new Chief Justice John Roberts concerned me. It’s even more relevant today about Harriet Miers. Consider:

I’m told that the President waited to make this decision and that it was a deliberate decision. The President, I’m told, wanted someone he knew, someone who would be seen as conservative, and someone who would “tread carefully” on Executive Powers. Roberts was the only one in the end who fit the bill.

I reiterate what I said then. The last thing we need right now is someone who will tread carefully on Executive Powers. If there has ever been a President who needs to be restrained by the Constitution’s checks-and-balances, it’s President Bush. I reserved judgment on Chief Justice Roberts and eventually decided that there were no obvious reasons to vote against him. I remain hopeful that he will become a good Supreme Court Justice, one who is faithful to the Constitution. I refuse to take the same approach for Ms. Miers, who is so blatantly unqualified for the Supreme Court that her nomination makes a mockery of the process. I would suggest that President Bush should be ashamed of himself, but I don’t believe he’s capable of such a simple observation of reality.

I don’t know that we’ve ever needed Congress and the President to be from opposite parties more than we do now. Is it November 2006 yet?