Who will now be Chief Justice???

[neoteric lefty]

My first thought would be that Thomas could get the nod. Bush would love to be able to spout that he placed the first black to the highest seat in SCOUTS. However, Bush could use this opportunity to place a younger, right-winger (like Janice Rogers-Brown) in the CJ chair so he can have that seat sown up for decades to come. What do you think?

[rwheeler31]

1. Moran the Magnicent

nt

[neoteric lefty]

2. magnicent??? nt

[longship]

3. Scalia.

He wants two appointments for the price of one. He'll appoint Scalia.

[TahitiNut]

4. Nomination of a current Justice to Chief Justice is subject to consent of

... the Senate. There would then be another nomination the the Justice's seat vacated by that nomination. In other words, a nomination of Scalia to be Chief Justice would bring the number of Senate consent hearings and votes to THREE: O'Conner's seat (Roberts), Scalia as Chief Justice, and a third person as Justice.

Do the Bushoilinis want THREE Senate advise and consent processes conducted almost simultaneously? Or would they rather keep it to two?

[Yupster]

5. I think they might like

to have Roberts seated before he nominates another one, so maybe the Scalia for Chief Justice could stall things until Roberts is seated.

[Alcibiades]

6. It probably will be Scalia

Scalia's replacement will probably be another nominee in the Roberts mold--young, conservative, and with little in the way of a track record, especially on abortion.

Rather than risk appointing a Chief Justice who would be an unknown quantity on the bench (the ghost of Earl Warren still haunts conservatives), Bush will probably want Scalia. That being said, Scalia is 69. He may want someone younger, particularly since it's increasingly evident that the Republicans will not be able to steal the next election. Clarence Thomas is only 57.

[VADem11]

7. I agree

Who will replace Scalia is another question.

[Carla in Ca]

11. That's my guess

The other oxymoron...Justice Scalia

[Sparkly]

9. Yup. nt

[terrya]

19. I agree. It's Scalia.

Bush wants him, I'm sure, plus it will be payback for Bush v Gore

[neoteric lefty]

8. this reminds me of the west wing ep. "the Supremes"

where an extremely conservative justice suddenly dies. The pres. wants to nominate a very liberal nominee (Glenn Close payed her I think) but in order to appease the conservative Congress, he convinces an old liberal justice to step down and nominates a very conservative nominee to fill the first vacancy. I was a kind of "keep the balance" solution while avoiding milquetoast centrist candidates. BTW, The conservative portrayed in the show was an actual conservative, not a right-winger. If only this were TV :).

[cobaindrain]

10. the far right fundies would never let him appoint thomas

as much as he'd love to, for immediate political gain with black voters, the far right wing which steers the party has tied his hands. Scalia will be chief justice.

[win_in_06]

12. I disagree. Thomas is a favorite amongst the most fervent

right wingnuts. I think Clyde will be the next CJ.

Heaven help us.

[liberalpragmatist]

13. Roberts

I believe Bush will use the opportunity to knock Roberts up to CJ (most Chief Justices are new to the bench, not promoted) and nominate someone else for Associate Justice, that way not having to deal with THREE confirmations.

[ProudDad]

14. Shudder....

What an awful thought...

[liberalpragmatist]

15. Well, take your pick: Roberts, Scalia, or Thomas

It's gonna be one of them. Out of that batch I'd have to go with Roberts. I hope most Dems vote against him and maybe something will emerge that will make him "borkable." But if that doesn't happen we will have to resign ourselves to Roberts as a SCJ - elections have consequences, in this case, unfortunate ones for our side.

[CityDem]

16. Agree -- it will be Roberts

Thomas does not want it -- does not want to go through confirmation hearings.

Scalia is too old -- late 60's.

Roberts appears to have a fair amount of dem support -- it will take a smoking gun to vote him down. Only requires one confirmation hearing which is only a week away.

Bush will appoint another conservative nominee to replace Rehnquist -- someone like Luttig. They will attempt to get this done in a hurry because the court will be divided 4-4 on several major cases.

[MissMarple]

17. The nastiest son of bitch they can find.

And I am not taking a single word of that back. It's the truth.

[Zen Democrat]

18. It will be one of the Supreme Appointers of 2000, I predict.

[Hubert Flottz]

20. Clarance "Long Dong Silver" Thomas!

He will place Kenny Boy on the court, to fill the empty spot.

[Pepperbelly]

21. Fat Tony is a cinch. Bush loves his old crazy ass. nt

[Totally Committed]

22. I'm guessing Scalia, and then an ultra-Right nominee to fill

the vacancy. The nominee for THIS spot is going to make Roberts look like Mr. Rogers, and could possibly be a woman. Fasten your seatbelts, this is gonna be ugly.

TC