Ah, the twists and turns of the changing party line. Remember, up means up … until it means down.

When President Bush nominated Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court, he repeatedly described her as a conservative. During his October 8 radio address, for instance, he said, “Harriet Miers will be
the type of judge I said I would nominate: a good conservative judge.” Even when he withdrew her nomination, he reiterated this point, stating, “I nominated Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court because of her
extraordinary legal experience, her character, and her conservative
judicial philosophy.”

So why should we give any credence to this?

The Bush administration is mounting an aggressive effort to counter a Knight Ridder story that described Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito as a committed judicial conservative.

The administration’s response – delivered separately Tuesday by the White House and the Justice Department – reflects its determination to defend Alito and its sensitivity to the “conservative” label for him.

There are only two possibilities. Either President Bush is breaking his promise to nominate conservatives to the federal bench, or Samuel Alito is a conservative. Only one can be true.