Friday, July 1, 2005

It's all downhill from here

Sandra Day O'Connor is retiring from the Supreme Court. Emperor Chancellor President Bush gets his first opportunity to appoint a justice.

Things could get really ugly.

We all knew this day would come. Things would be bad enough if Bush got to appoint a replacement for William Rehnquist, but at least Rehnquist was already known as a conservative justice. Anyone Bush would put up would retain the balance. O'Connor, while moderately conservative overall, was also a key "swing judge" on important issues such as abortion.

Now, I think the Democrats have gotten some of their spunk back when it comes to challenging Bush nominees, between the filibuster debate and John Bolton. I think that Bush knows this. Hopefully, he won't try to push anybody too radical through, but if he does, I have no doubt that it will be a contentious battle. And by "no doubt" I mean "for the sake of humanity, please." It's a given that we are going to get a conservative justice regardless of Democratic opposition. The question is how bad it will be.

And I have a feeling Ruth Bader Ginsberg will be the only woman on the court when this is over. There should be a requirement that the court alternates between five men and four women, and five women and four men, every time a position opens up. Realistically, I don't expect to see more than three women on the court at any time in my life, and I'm not betting on more than two.

3 comments:

  1. May I suggest that you have a link somewhere on this site to easily get to your movie reviews? Promote!

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  2. A micro story: Unrelated to this post.

    Ryan and Rachel tensed as they approached Austin. Truly they had the best time ever while in Houston. The only time that may rival was their Honeymoon, but let's face it, the Honeymoon was all too temporary.

    No, this time was different. This time, Ryan was returning home as a new man. Rachel knew it. Ryan knew it.

    They drove in silence. Well, if you don't count the radio it was quiet. And the sound of the car too.

    But other than those two things, it was totally silent.

    -fin

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