Chuck Todd made an interesting comment on MJ today.

[CTyankee]

He said that Obama would have to make this Supreme Court pick demographically but the second pick (which he thinks Obama will get) should be political. I cringed momentarily waiting for him to say it would be a white male, but surprise! He said that Jennifer Granholm would be good politically.

OK, it's not much, but at least Todd is thinking about two or more women on the Court and not automatically defaulting to the white male paradigm. This is probably because he is a bit younger than Joe and certainly Pat and Barnicle.

We need to have LOTS more talking about which WOMAN is best for the job. Demographically, we have a strong base with women and young voters. We need to push back from these old farts in the Senate who still think it's 1970...

[Captain Hilts]

1. Granholm is someone to keep an eye on. She can't be prez, so this is her only step up. nt

[Botany]

2. why do they pay chuck money?

<demographically but the second pick (which he thinks Obama will get)> Obama will get a second pick?

No Shit

Judge Stevens is 89

Judge Ginsburg is 76 and has health issues

Judge Scalia is 73 and bag of shit

Judge Thomas is 61 and sleeps most of the time

Judge Breyer turns 72 this August.

[NewJeffCT]

4. Scalia will hang on forever if a Democrat is president

just out of sheer stubbornness and partisanship

[Botany]

10. Fat and 73 w/ a stressful job might take it's toll

He acts like he doesn't care that people are still pissed @ him over Bush v Gore but
each time he hears about it it takes a few days from his life.

[NewJeffCT]

15. I think he'll linger on out of sheer spite

just because.

[Botany]

16. He needs some more double bacon cheeseburgers

The man still needs to get hit by that great karma bus.

[get the red out]

25. I simply wish for him to get what he wants

An abundance of the kinds of food that his girth would suggest he enjoys.

[CTyankee]

17. For all we know he could step in front of a Metrobus and I am not

wishing that on him. My next door neighbor, a hearty 82 year old, was only tapped by a car when she was out walking but she fell in such a way that she sustained massive head trauma and died. A month later the husband of a friend of mine was hit by a car while jogging. His head injuries did not kill him but rendered him invalided and badly cognitively injured, ending his brilliant law career in a split second.

We never know what can happen. It is bad karma to wish it on someone but these things can happen to anyone...

[CTyankee]

5. Yeah, I know. But we got this guy doing the show and if he's

talking about Obama's second pick being a woman (and not just if it replaces Ginsburg), then I say great. Let's make it the default position that given reality it is sensible to choose more women...

[NewJeffCT]

3. what did he mean by demographically?

just curious

[CTyankee]

7. He meant Hispanic, I think.

Obviously gender is a demographic too. I just think his distinction was between a Hispanic (woman) and a white woman. It is a little nonsensical...

[immoderate]

9. I think he means to diversify...

In short, anybody but a white male. That's why you hear so much about Hispanics, women, possible other minority combinations.

On politics, that means someone who can influence other court members.

--imm

[Lancer]

12. Guess he means Obama will have to fill a quota on this one

Female, Hispanic, Asian, Native American or a combination. I really hate this kind of thinking because it clearly shows that checking off boxes is coming before merit.

I always wonder what would happen if concise, crisp synopses of potential candidates' work histories that omitted gender and racial or ethnicity identifiers were laid before the committee or individual charged with making a hiring decision. Who would get chosen then?

[NewJeffCT]

14. I don't see Obama picking somebody that isn't qualified

no matter than ethnicity/gender.

[CTyankee]

18. I have to laugh. This is the same goddamn argument I heard all of my life.

This thinking springs from the initial assumption that the paradigm is always white male.

Your question really should be "Who does the choosing?"

Your use of the term "quota" is interesting. Is a majority of the population a "quota"? Is a majority in the field of law a "quota"?

[Supersedeas]

27. maybe those 'who choose' should start with your category of 'we' demographically speaking

[CTyankee]

28. If I read you right, yes. nt

[Renew Deal]

6. Not only do I agree, but I think this is exactly what's going to happen.

Obama is going to play it straight this time to build credibility. I think the next one (if he hopefully gets it) will be more partisan.

Obama seriously has potential to replace 3 justices or more in his first term. Souter is gone. One is ill. One is over 80. And there's a few over 70.

[annabanana]

8. "Identity Politics" is the story the press is telling itself these days...

They like it, they understand it. It's not complicated or wonky. . or very interesting, for that matter..

[The_Commonist]

11. Why do you watch that crap?

Those people are all idiots, and they exist soley to put your eyeballs in front of advertisements...

[CTyankee]

19. I like to get a read on the politcs du jour. And I leave the room or read the paper

during the commercials. I can take only bits and pieces of MJ. I like seeing some of the guests. Today Lawrence O'Donnell was on and he's great. Carole King was on talking about wilderness preservation and I loved seeing and hearing her. Then they announced that Richard Shelby would be their next guest. That was the end of my watching MJ or anything else on the tube for that matter.

[The_Commonist]

26. Good answer.

Thanks...

[Captain Hilts]

13. Women are politically too diverse to be a voting bloc in this issue and most others. nt

[CTyankee]

20. Exactly. I agree.

However, the Court needs the input of qualified women. It is a national embarrassment that we don't have more gender balance on the Court. It makes no sense when women are a majority in our population and even among law school graduates.

[Captain Hilts]

21. Yes. Part of me - I won't say which part - thinks that the number of women

will naturally increase on the court.

Another part of me - I won't say which one - wants this to happen faster.

I'm actually more carbonated over the lack of women's voices on op-ed pages, hence my thread in GD about the NYDN having NO women op-ed writers. Women need to get into the game.

[CTyankee]

22. Women have been trying to "get into the game" but they find that the game is fixed.

Here in this thread some minds are made up, assumptions are made that default to the white male. As long as this mindset continues we cannot have the diversity we need. I sometimes think that some people believe that diversity is something we just have to put up with, something thrust upon us from aliens, not "normal." What you learn in diversity training is that nature itself thrives on diversity, whether it be flowers in a field or strains of food we humans consume (remember the comparison of populations eating only one strain of potatoes vs. those that ate a variety? Diversity ensured survival).

So our mindset is the real aberration here. It is almost reflexive, even a bit on DU. What Obama can and I think will do is break that old habit for us. At least I hope so.

[Captain Hilts]

23. I completely agree.

I would expand that to say 'male'. Some of the financial leaders involved in the financial collapse were black men, but there were no women.

I can't help but notice that women just aren't busting too many ceilings and that most folks - even here on DU - are okay with that.

Keep up the Good Fight.

[dysfunctional press]

24. on mj?

he was high? :shrug: