It seems unlikely that the president has miscalculated or thoughtlessly erred in his choice of Harriet Miers for the United States Supreme Court. Bush is not irrational, certainly not deliberately impolitic. Nor is he one to neglect his party and his sectional base. Impetus for the White House to nominate — at a second-term popularity nadir — what the left might deride as an incompetent vassal and some aggressive rightists have rejected forthwith as a white elephant would be the anticipation of a third court vacancy, perhaps imminent, that of one of the oldest and furthest left man or woman in robes. This is induction, yes, but somewhat more constructive than plain derision.