SCOTUS pool.

[Peregrinator]

Two questions:

Which one(s) will step down, retire, die, whatever, leave a vacant position in the next four years?

With whom would Willard or Barry replace them?

 

[RobDownSouth]

Sadly, I think Ruth Bader Ginsburg is in the worst health of the lot of 'em.

I think President Obama should nominate Alan Dershowitz to replace her.

I'm also wondering if Uncle Clarence Thomas might resign, since he no longer needs the steady Federal paycheck now that his wife has made tens of millions of dollars lobbying against Obamacare.

If he steps down, I'd like to see President Obama nominate Hillary Clinton to the Supreme Court, just to give the asswipe-right here a collective coronary.

 

[kbate]

Ginsberg will die before 2016 and will be replaced with Stephanie Rose.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Neither Obama nor Mitt will nominate Dershowitz to anything; Alan's a liberal but has a soft spot in his noggin for mad dogs. Hillary? Naaah. Hillary is Lucretia Borgia and makes everyone nervous. I mean, when liberals (Camille Paglia) and Conservatives (Florence King) both hate her, I pay attention.

I'm betting on a faggot...the Court needs an official Faggot. And Romneys most likely to do it. Cuz he cares. Obama likes them ethnic girlz. He'll nominate that Injun gal, Elizabeth Warren.

 

[bobbyinhouston]

Scotus

Wow! Just to show you how I am not paying attention to Bo's term, I was not even paying attention to the Supreme Court either. I think if Obama is re-elected he should nominate Hilary so that way she would have to pay for her own trips around the world.

When Romney is elected he should nominate Condi Rice to the Supreme Court. She would bring a higher level of class to the court and she will take no smack from the other members.

Ms Rice is already the smartest and tougest lady in politics. I wish she would run for the Presidency. What would the blk voters have to say then?

 

[kbate]

Ms Rice is already the smartest and tougest lady in politics. I wish she would run for the Presidency. What would the blk voters have to say then?

They would say, "Aunt Thomasina."

 

[garbage can]

They would say, "Aunt Thomasina."

*laughing*....Correct, then the Progressives would be free to attack her.

 

[RobDownSouth]

Wow! Just to show you how I am not paying attention to Bo's term, I was not even paying attention to the Supreme Court either. I think if Obama is re-elected he should nominate Hilary so that way she would have to pay for her own trips around the world.

When Romney is elected he should nominate Condi Rice to the Supreme Court. She would bring a higher level of class to the court and she will take no smack from the other members.

Ms Rice is already the smartest and tougest lady in politics. I wish she would run for the Presidency. What would the blk voters have to say then?

Condi Rice first rocketed to fame as something of a novelty....A black woman who spoke fluent Russian. Give credit where credit is due: Rice was a very competent Cold War policy wonk, even if she was a hawk.

After the Cold War ended and the Berlin Wall fell, though, Rice was a Rebel Without a Cause. She tried to re-invent herself as an expert on All Things Arabic, which was a masterstroke in theory but her execution was, well, less than perfect. (Read: a complete disaster).

By this time she'd climbed the academic ladder at Stanford, where by all accounts she was regarded as a merciless ticket puncher. They gave her the title of Provost, and her primary job duties were clerical in nature: obtaining speakers and scheduling public facilities.

When life gives you lemons, Rice chose to make lemonade. Bitter, sour lemonade: Rice put all the Godless libruls in small un-airconditioned halls and reserved the really big, plush facilities for her Republican masters.

They, in turn, decided she was an Acceptable Negro (© 2004 Vettebigot Productions) along the lines of Wally Williams and Uncle Thomas Sowell, and groomed her for Great Things. The rest, as they say, was history.

 

[LiFeNdEaTh]

beats me.

 

[Sean]

Michael Moore for the win!

 

[YDB95]

Condi Rice is not a lawyer, let's recall. I'm not sure if that's an actual disqualifier for the SCOTUS, but I can't think of any justice in recent history who didn't have a law degree.

She also supports abortion rights, and that is an absolute non-starter for Republicans. Think of some other token for Romney.

 

[Wrong Element]

Condi Rice is not a lawyer, let's recall. I'm not sure if that's an actual disqualifier for the SCOTUS, but I can't think of any justice in recent history who didn't have a law degree.

She also supports abortion rights, and that is an absolute non-starter for Republicans. Think of some other token for Romney.

Constitutionally speaking, it isn't a disqualifier. Practically speaking, it obviously would be.


I don't think any of the current justices will willingly retire if "their" candidate doesn't win the election. I'm not so sure Ginsburg is as near the end of the line as some seem to think. If she was tired of the job or felt she was unhealthy, I think she would have bailed in 2010.

I do expect Ginsburg and possibly Breyer would leave during an Obama second term, while Scalia and Kennedy might retire if something very bizarre happens and Romney wins.

Of course, four members of the court are at least 74, and demographically speaking, there's a decent chance at least one of them won't be alive by 2016. Not that I'm wishing death on anybody, but it's been a real long time since a Democratic president had the chance to really move the direction of the Court with one of his appointments.

I don't expect the current orientation of the Court to change much unless someone dies suddenly, or unless one party wins so many elections in a row that it becomes unavoidable (recall that the last two members of the Warren Court, Brennan and Marshall, hung on through the Reagan years but retired during the Bush presidency).