Something of a shocker in D.C. tonight as Supreme Court Justice David Souter prepares to announce his resignation. At 69, he's nowhere near the typical retirement age for the Supremes -- but he's also a sane person who hates living in Washington. Bully for him. Souter was like that movie character who shows up an enigma (thank you, George H.W. Bush) but turns out to be a pretty good guy by the final reel. It's ironic this happens the same week that Specter switches parties -- talk about the end of the road for moderate Northeastern GOPers!
For Obama, it's a chance to try on some cosmetics. What do I mean by that? He's going to replace a Republican dude who turned out to be a liberal with a Democratic female who we'll know is a liberal. So the court will look different, but in terms of the law, nothing changes. Ironically, Obama could leave a huge stamp on the court, with two or three appointments in just the current term, without changing the ideology of the Supremes at all, because it's the liberal wing with more age and health issues.
Of course, you know who would make a great appointment to the High Court, in terms of legal training (if not courtroom experience), judicial temperment, and age? Barack Obama. Maybe in January 2017, when he's nearly 56 and figuring out what to do with the rest of his life.
UPDATE: Ding ding ding, we have an early frontrunner, and that would be federal appeals judge Sonia Sotomayor, straight outta the Bronx:
After growing up in a Bronx housing project, Sotomayor has risen to become a judge on one of the most powerful courts in the land: the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit. As a Hispanic woman, Sotomayor would make an attractive candidate if Obama is looking to diversify the court. There has never been a Hispanic on the Supreme Court, and there is only one woman currently on the bench, Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Sotomayor might also have bipartisan appeal. She is politically moderate, and President George H.W. Bush appointed her to her first judgeship.
Female, Latina, moderate...how could he not pick her?
Actually, I'd like to see Obama select I Want Revenge, because a) America really should have a judge with that name and b) there has never been a non-human named to the High Court before, at least to the best of my recollection.
Comment removed.
Obama was not very accomplished as a lawyer. Read the LA times article about his law career- he spent four years as a lawyer before he brought hope and change and the yes we can to the IL state senate. According to the article he worked on about 30 cases total. And yes I know he was a part time law professor but I'm not sure that qualifies him to be on the Supreme Court. But then again Bunch you've been so high on hope lately I wouldn't expect you to notice something like that.— beeron
Typical Will, looking for someone to legislate from the bench and not interperate the constitution as it applies to the law. Of couse Obama, the ultimate political animal, would be a no brainer.......literally.— Earl J- You guys have to get a sense of humor.— elhirsch
- Interpret the Constitution as it applies to the law...you mean like the Bush v. Gore ruling? No politics there :-)— will
- How about we give the right wingnuts something to talk about for a long time? How about Bill Clinton? Wouldn't you love to see the questioning from the bench between him and Scalia? Rushie boy and the faux news phonies would be blowing a gasket for the 25 years! What a hoot!— philasportsfan
President Bill Clinton would be great. Or maybe Ralph Nader. Or Al Gore, so many choices!! What is that sound I am hearing? Michael Savage's head exploding or was that Glenn Beck sounding the alarm of neo-stalinist facism?- Michael Moore would be absolutely hilarious, but also potentially dangerous. It would drive Republican toadies even further over the edge. They'd pick up their assault weapons they use for "hunting" (what a crock) and prove to us just why they really were so upset that the DHS warned about violent right-wing extremists.— Talking point sleuth
replace souter with the biggest liberal possible so will bunch will be satisfied. especially the ones who like to reference foreign law to render decisions.— dpcoz- Pass the popcorn: --snip-- Republican Sens. Orrin Hatch and George Voinovich blamed the Club for Growth for imposing a right-wing litmus test that chased Arlen Specter out of the Republican Party. The Club for Growth blamed Specter — first for helping to ruin the GOP and then for leaving it. A leading Republican strategist blamed the party for turning its back on moderates. Sen. Lindsey Graham sniped at Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele. Specter’s pollster blamed the stimulus bill. Karl Rove blamed Specter himself... Mr. [Lindsey] Graham scoffed at the notion that the party was suffering because it was not conservative enough. "Do you really believe that we lost 18-to-34-year-olds by 19 percent, or we lost Hispanic voters, because we are not conservative enough?" he said. "No. This is a ridiculous line of thought. The truth is we lost young people because our Republican brand is tainted." --snip-- LOL! How bad is it when a guy named "Lindsey" is the only one in your party that's talking sense?— Talking point sleuth
Will, Bush vs. Gore was decided on the law as it was written, not as how Gore wanted it to be. They stuck to the letter of the law, whereas Gore's lawyers wanted it to say something it didn't. Better put, they were claiming something that wasn't there. Bottom line, his appointment won't change the makeup of the court. I'm grateful for that much.— georgel- Will Bunch is a punk wimp a_ _ kisser for the Dem Lib party. At the same time. he fails to realize that any Dem replacement for Souter is still a lib. No loss, no gain Will Bunch, you are an idiot.— eagle8
- The nomination will be a liberal that will further destroy this country.— flyers stink
- Good point, georgie. Clearly, only the libz on SCOTUS allow politics to enter their positions on issues. The fact that the Republicans on SCOTUS voted lockstep in favor of Bush (and vote on virtually ALL other issues in alignment with Republican policies) was pure coincidence, and based only on objective legal analysis.— Talking point sleuth
- Checks and balances has nothing to do with political parties, bill a. Checks and balances refers to the distribution of power between the three branches of federal government. You may be trying to make a particularly intelligent argument (something that rarely happens on this website) about Specter joining the party in Article II power, but somehow I doubt it. Will, Michelle Obama practiced law for some years more than her husband. She's more qualified to be on the Court than he is. Heck, if that's your only measure, I'm more qualified than both.— BlairW
Will Bunch, a senior writer at the Philadelphia Daily News, blogs about his obsessions, including national and local politics and world affairs, the media, pop music, the Philadelphia Phillies, soccer and other sports, not necessarily in that order.
E-mail Will by clicking here.
PLEASE COMMENT WITH PASSION...
...but not with racial slurs, potentially libelous allegations, obscenities or other juvenile noise. Such comments will, at our discretion, be deleted in their entirety, and repeat offenders will be blocked from commenting. ALSO: Any commenter advocating killing any government official will be immediately banned.
Thanks.
- Atrios
- Kiko's House
- Suburban Guerilla
- Booman Tribune
- All-Spin Zone
- Philly (Dragonballyee)
- Afro-Netizen
- Rowhouse Logic
- MyDD
- Bad Attitudes
- Billmon
- iFlipFlop
- CorrenteWire
- upyernoz
- Tattered Coat
- Fables of the Reconstruction
- Slacktivist
- Citizen Mom
- The Next Mayor
- Philly Future
- Philadelphia Will Do
- Philebrity
- Young Philly Politics
- Phillyblog
- Welcome to Phillyville
- Phawker
- A List of Things Thrown Five Minutes Ago
- Keystone Blog
- Philadelphia - America's Hometown
- BlankBaby
- Above Average Jane
- Phillyist
- Metroblogging Philadelphia
- The Clog
- Josh Marshall
- Daily Kos
- Juan Cole
- Oliver Willis
- Andy Borowitz
- War and Piece
- Wonkette
- BuzzFlash
- Raw Story
- Cursor
- Crooks and Liars
- Swing State Project
- Kevin Drum
- Talk Left
- AmericaBlog
- Hullabaloo
- Mad Kane
- Think Progress
- Jesus' General
- The Carpetbagger Report
- Majikthise
- Echidne of the Snakes
- David Sirota
- Glenn Greenwald
- TBogg
- Fire Dog Lake
- Taylor Marsh
- Matthew Yglesias
- Jon Swift
- Drudge Report
- Beer Leaguer
- The 700 Level
- Dick Polman
- Balls, Sticks and Stuff
- Shallow Center
- Philling Station
- Phillies Nation
- A Citizen's Blog
- The Good Phight
- Romenesko
- Editor and Publisher
- Pressthink
- Buzzmachine
- The Inksniffer
- Media Bloodhound
- Eat the Press
- Mickey Kaus
- Media (Huffington Post)
- Blinq
- The Corner
- Instapundit
- Andrew Sullivan
- Free Republic
- James Taranto
- Blonde Sagacity
- ScrappleFace
- Blogorrhea
- February
- January
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- January 2008
- News | Sports | Business | What's Happening | Restaurants & Food | Entertainment | Living | Marketplace | Jobs
