This is very bad news... I was sure hoping he could hang on until Jan '09.

Wow, is that really who you're hoping for?

Better than Hillary...

Latest news: Bush has tweaked his nomination of Roberts such that Roberts is now his nominee for chief justice and, until we hear otherwise, Sandra Day O'Connor is still on the court. One theory: by having Roberts as the chief justice, it keeps that seat in "conservative" hands, versus allowing Justice John Paul Stevens (the otherwise senior member of the court and a "liberal") to become the chief justice by default.

It's not like he doesn't have the option to elevate Antonin-Scalia or Thomas to Chief Justice. It's a winner take the spoils operation.

Well it's not suprise that Bush wants a conservative court. That was one of the issues he ran on.

But in addition to bolstering the conservative leanings of the court, this also allows them to move foward with a full court (since O'Connor said she'll stay on until they find a replacement) and avoiding 4-4 splits.

Anyway, it's not a suprising move at all to me.

And of course, the Democrats are now calling to hold off on messing with the courst until Katrina gets sorted out. Somehow I don't think they'd have the same attitude if it were their noniminee. It feels to me like since they can't really find much negative to say about Roberts, they are going to use Katrina to delay the prceedings and give them a chance to find a firmer foothold. Were the situation reveresed, I have no dobut the Republicans would be doing exactly the same thing.

I situations like this, I am always reminded of a scene from R.L.Delderfield's _To Serve Them All My Days_. This British public school drama was adapted for television and became a 13-episode series on PBS' Masterpiece Theater during the 80s. I can't think of another time when I looked forward to a television show so eagerly (Hmmmm, I see it is on DVD, but not sure I'll part with $70...) The guy who played the main character Powlett-Jones did a great job.

A supporting character in the story is Howarth, a curmudgeonly teacher. Aside from the facts that I am not qualified to teach English and that I gave up cigarettes 26 years ago, I might very well consider Howarth my role model in life.

Anyhow, upon the occasion of the sudden -- Deus ex pectus -- death of the new South African Nazi headmaster Cordwailer, Powlett-Jones, Howarth and several junior teachers (who had previously bemoaned their oppression by Cordwailer) gather in the teacher's lounge...

The junior teachers all equivocate as to how it is a shame that Cordwailer died so young and all that -- "Poor man". Howarth offers something like "Well, at least he's gone" and the juniors react with indignant shock.

Now Howarth's retort -- and I won't get it exactly right -- was: "Why, I must say that it is the height of hypocrisy to say good things about someone simply because they are dead."

Words to live by, I say.

Anyhow, now we may unwittingly elevate Robert Bork to the court. But a younger, more handsome Bork.

I have to think how things might have gone if Rehnquist had simply managed to succumb at age 70. Mario Cuomo isn't handsome in a hunky, all-American way, but my sense is that he's a pretty nice guy.

Ah, well, I guess I am ready for life in the United States of Tight Assholes. How old is Orrin Hatch? He could serve on the court until, what, 2020?

I wasn't feeling too bad about Roberts until now. Of course Bush is going to nominate a conservative but Roberts doesn't seem too ideological.

But in the back of my mind I've had this suspicion that Bush is getting exactly the type of judge he wants but he managed to find one without enough of a public record to be Borked. This suspicion is strenghened now that Bush is nominating Roberts for Chief. Perhaps it's only a matter of administrative convenience so that O'Conner stays on longer. But I am concerned.

I'm proudly liberal on social issues and the Supreme Court has the final say so it's important to me. Sometimes I fear the country my children will grow up in. The solace I take is that the trend of history is for society to become more progressive. For example, I'm confident that some number of years from now we will look back on the current discrimination against homosexuals as we now look back on discrimination against blacks.

Or maybe I'll move to Holland...

They're afraid of her.

That's a good sign.

I quite liked your story Jim, that just about sums it up for me too. Won't say anything bad about him, but I sure ain't saying anything good either.

It looks like Pat Robertson's call for God to create "additional vacancies on the court" worked, but I am sure not quite in the way he intended. Maybe his god missed.

And yeah, if Leiberman had got the nomination I would have voted Libertarian...i.e. thrown away my vote. Hillary will be a disaster and doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell of winning.

And, of course, this is the same Pat Robertson that recommended that the US should assassinate Venezuela's President Chavez, right? While I am not going to enter the political side of this debate, I really have to wonder if Mr. Robertson has been taking all of his medication lately...