Ned Rice cuts through the Miers flapdoodle (if indeed flapdoodle can become corporeal).

At National Review Online, Mr. Rice combines baseball and football metaphors, audacity, and genius bordering on madness to offer us a vision of the kind of Supreme Court we want and need.

The growing sense that Miers will either be forced to withdraw or will fail to win Senate confirmation is generally seen as a looming disaster for a White House that, to be charitable, could use some good news right now. But the argument can be made (and, I hope, is about to be) that a Miers’s rebuff will prove not a setback, but a golden opportunity for the president to shore up his fortunes on several fronts. If he makes the right choice here, President Bush can win back the hearts and minds of his base (and then some), fortify his arsenal in the war on terror, lay the foundation for an outstanding judicial legacy, and put right an historic injustice of epic proportions, all in one fell swoop. Plus, there’s at least a 50-50 chance that Ted Kennedy’s head will, at long last, finally explode.

I'll drink to that!

But in order to grasp this nettle of opportunity President Bush must be willing to cast aside the focus-grouped timidity that gave us Miers (and, let’s be honest, Roberts) in favor of the bold approach more suited to the lame duck president he happens to be. The George W. Bush we elected understands that the essence of statesmanship is doing the right thing knowing that you’ll be vilified for doing so. This historic juncture is no time for small-ball, sacrifice bunt, move-the-runner-over tactics, Mr. President. There is, in fact, virtually no tomorrow in terms of your remaining presidency, your legacy, and oh, yes…the future of the republic. This is no time to take a knee. Rather, it’s time for you to hobble up to the plate and crank one out of the park just like Kirk Gibson did in the 1988 Series. And with all due respect, Mr. President, here’s how you do it: Renominate the Honorable Robert H. Bork to be an associate justice of the United States Supreme Court.

Hooray Bork!

Lest there be any doubt, this suggestion to resubmit Bork’s name for Senate consideration is no satirical flourish. I am absolutely, positively serious about this. Bork was abundantly qualified to sit on the Supreme Court when he was nominated (and rejected) in 1987 and he remains so today because he is widely acknowledged as one of the foremost legal scholars in the United States. As opposed to Harriet Miers, widely acknowledged as one of the foremost legal scholars in her immediate family.

Not to sound like an elitist or anything, but you’d think that sheer judicial and scholarly brilliance would be reason enough to put Bork on the Court. As it turns out, there are several other good reasons. Diversity, for one thing: If confirmed Judge Bork would become the first Supreme Court justice in history to bear an eerie resemblance to New Orleans blues legend Dr. John.

Amen to all that, Brother!