Filling in the blank

After an exhaustive and far-reaching search encompassing his entire inner circle, Dubya dubbed White House counsel and longtime loyalist Harriet Miers Supreme Court material.

The president boasted that he had not applied a litmus test; the Democrat powerless base bridled over her background, and the GOP righteous blustered over original intent and strict construction. Everyone feared that she was a stealth bummer. The veep was Rushed onto radio to reassure dittoheads of dis and dat. “Trust us on this one,” he intoned.

With little to go on, rumors and tidbits sufficed. She gave a grand to Gore. Nevada Democratic Sen. Harry Reid likes her. She once told a friend’s cousin’s pool boy, who told Kevin Bacon, that she was pro-choice. Wait, she’s been born again since then, so she’ll be a justice-for-life in favor of life.

Because cartoonists start each day with blank slates, what happens when the day’s topic is a blank slate? Mark Cohen read between the ad-copy lines, Gary Varvel recalled Poppy’s ultimately unsuitable Souter, and the ultimate White House loyalist became Bruce Beattie’s best friend.

-- Joel Pett