THE PROCESS IS THE PUNISHMENT: “Miguel Estrada, one of the most distinguished appellate lawyers in the country whose D.C. Circuit nomination battle lasted over three years, stated when his name was mentioned as being a possible nominee for Solicitor General: ‘I would never accept a job that requires Senate confirmation or, for that matter, willingly place myself in any situation (e.g., a hearing room) in which convention requires that I be civil to Chuck Schumer.’”

Why is that? Estrada “had worked in the Solicitor General’s office, and who was Bush’s first appellate-court nominee, in 2001. Estrada withdrew his name twenty-eight months after being nominated. During the confirmation struggle, Estrada’s wife miscarried; in November, 2004, she died, of an overdose of alcohol and sleeping pills. The death was ruled accidental by the medical examiner. Rove said that Mrs. Estrada had been traumatized by the nastiness of the process.”