Rehnquist Decision Not To Retire Changes Parameters For Bush

[JABBS]

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=aKi3hW51pCx4&refer=us

July 15 (Bloomberg) -- It took U.S. Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist only three sentences to clarify the choices facing President George W. Bush as he considers his first Supreme Court nomination.

Rehnquist's statement yesterday that he has no immediate retirement plans means Bush has just one high court seat to fill, that of retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

Gone is the prospect that Bush might use a pair of nominees to satisfy multiple constituencies, including social conservatives, Republican moderates and groups seeking another woman or the first Hispanic nominee. Bush now will have to try to balance those competing demands with a single selection.

``He can make his legacy on the country by appointing the first Hispanic,'' said Mark I. Levy, a Washington appellate lawyer at Kilpatrick Stockton. ``He can make his legacy by moving the court to the right. I am not sure he can do both.''

[Melodybe]

1. Ha Ha Ha, I like Rehnquist for his ruling in the Larry Flint case

I cried in the movie when Edward Norton read Rehnquist's actual decision, it was a very beautiful statement about free speech.

So even though I am not the fondest of Rehnquist for being one of the 5 judges to hand over the WH to *, I think that he is actually a decent man.

I wish him a long and healthy life.

[Chipper Chat]

2. Something tells me

Rehnquist doesn't think too highly of Shrubbie. Otherwise he wouldn't disobey a direct order from Der Fuhrer.

[4_Legs_Good]

3. I'm actually surprised that O'Connor trusts him either

I had thought that the last couple years she was really trying to repent for her decision to make him God Emperor of Earth.

I really wish she woulda toughed out a couple more years.

I agree with your assessment of Rhenquist's feelings about George Jr.

david

[LittleWoman]

6. O'Connor's resignation

does not take effect until her successor is confirmed. If there is a problem in the Senate with the nomination she will continue on the bench.

[4_Legs_Good]

7. Let's hope!

[JABBS]

9. But keep in mind ...

I don't think we can expect a 3-year delay in naming a successor.

[XemaSab]

4. Agreed

He's a very old, sick man, and he's guarenteed a conservative replacement, but I agree: it's personal.

[JABBS]

8. rehnquist

It might be that this is all he has to live for.

There have been several times in the sports world when coaches stayed on into their 70s and 80s (Bear Bryant comes to mind), then retired and died within a few months.

[Brooklyn Michael]

5. As Rehnquist gets (really) older...

I've always thought the old axiom about being young and liberal, then getting older and more conservative always needed something else...It goes (something) like this:

They say if you're young and not liberal, you have no heart. If you're older and not conservative, you have no brain.

Now, the first part is obvious. When we're children, we're taught liberal values: openness, sharing, fair play, looking out for your fellow man...err...child. Obviously, what isn't mentioned in the second part is that as many people get older, it's not that just because they get older and "smarter", they get more conservative - they get conservative because they get older and more selfish (but saying they get "smarter" makes it sound better). See Dennis Miller's career as an example...

But the last (unmentioned) part is....if you got more conservative as you got older, eventually you get old enough that you have to confront your own mortality, and that gives you a slightly different perspective on some of the more conservative (i.e. selfish) positions you may have taken over the years....and then you get scared....and then you get liberal again (also known as "mellowing out in your old age").

I think it's a clarity of vision and values that children share with the (most) of the really elderly...It's some of the adults in between that that get cluttered and lose their way...
:dilemma:

[JABBS]

10. mark twain

Twain said something like the radical ideas of one century are the conservative ideas of the next ...