Between innings last night I got a load of Lanny Davis, on O’Reilly, castigating Louie Freeh and, more to the point, defending the indefensible Clinton anti-terrorism record . Suddenly it was 1997 all over again. And I had a real us versus them moment.

Miers may make it, or she may not. But the brawl we are having now is about principles. While the media is talking about a fracture, I think they’ve got it all wrong. This fight is a good thing. It shows this movement is about ideas and causes that its adherents care far more about than either being in power or any one person – including one that 55 million of them just re-elected in a brutal contest. It’s an ideology, not a cult.

If Clinton had picked a dubiously qualified chum to a seat on the court, would the Lanny Davises and Susan Estriches and Paul Krugmans, etc., have done anything but circle the wagons to protect Their Guy? I don’t think so.