Setpember 21 seems like a long time ago — especially when you read something like this piece by Paul Weyrich, talking about the then-upcoming nomination to replace O’Connor:

The far left, which dominates the Democratic Party, could attempt to defeat the next nominee based upon the assumption that President Bush would nominate an individual that conservatives could support. I believe the president will so nominate. First, having spoken with the president about this issue, I am convinced he sincerely believes that the court needs justices who would interpret the law, not make law. Second, why would he not nominate a conservative? The president leads a fragile coalition of conservatives held together for one reason: judges. If a so-called consensus nominee were appointed to replace Justice O’Connor, as the left demands, many in the president’s coalition would defect. Over immigration. Over spending. Over the war. The president knows this. I am confident he would not disappoint us.

Ha!

As I have already noted, the reaction of conservatives to this nomination was entirely predictable. It’s not our fault we’re disappointed — it’s the President’s.

UPDATE: Instapundit agrees:

[T]he Bush Administration push[ed] an underwhelming nominee without thinking about how it would play. . . My problem is that there’s no particular reason to think she’d be a good Supreme Court Justice. The Bush Administration should have had a lot of those reasons handy before nominating someone who was sure to raise those kinds of questions.

Indeed.