Rehnquist to announce resignation at 10 a.m. tomorrow morning.

[onehandle]

Atrios just said so on The Majority Report.

[wallwriter]

1. Wow. Rove must really be in trouble!

[PretzelWarrior]

2. great. the average american can only track 3 news items at once

AT BEST.

So we'll have a "wall of News" otherwise known as a WALL OF NOISE on:

Supreme court nominee #1
Supreme court nominee #2
Terror attacks and why liberals are bad for America
Antonin Scalia nominated to fill Chief Justice role. more confirmation fun
BTK killer latest updates that "the devil made me do it"
Latest on some fair haired blue eyed missing girl

lost in the dust will be:

Downing Street Memo
Lost multibillions of $$ in Iraq
Losing the real war of Iraq
tax giveaways to the rich and corporations
fallout of bill to restrict bankruptcies
continued push for limits on liability lawsuits
continued push for giant giveaway to financial service companies for social security privatization.
ethics questions surrounding numerous U.S. representatives
actual follow through on AIDS funding pledges by congenital liar, bush.


there a

[faithnotgreed]

3. so whats going on here? these justices are on the court for 25 and plus

years then within a week 2 of them want out?

is mr rehnquist close to someone who also has alzheimers or what?

[colinmom71]

4. I think it may be a sign that Rehnquist's health has turned very poor...

Frankly, he may be announcing now in order to get his replacement's nomination process at least underway before he passes away. O'Connor's retirement pretty much tied his hands here, in that he needs to have a replacement ready so he doesn't die leaving yet another vacancy on the bench. If he dies before then, the court's balance is endangered by having a potential 4-4 tie on decisions, leaving far too much power in the hands of federal circuit appellate courts' decisions (thinking of how many Bush appointees now fill these positions...). If he dies before his and O'Connor's replacements are confirmed, then we're looking at a 7 member bench with two moderate-conservative members gone. To his mind, this may negatively impact the balance of the Court...

And as someone mentioned on another thread concerning this matter, it will be very difficult indeed for Bush's administration to get two staunch conservatives confirmed at the same time. At least one will have to be a compromise towards a moderate to get final approval votes. This could indeed be very clever (and practical) maneuvering on Rehnquist's part to mainain a balance of perspective within the Court...

That he's held on as long as he has while fighting thyroid cancer at age 82(?) is testament to his will. Personally, the impression I get from his actions is that he never wanted to vacate the bench while Bush was in office, but circumstances have unfortunately conspired against him...

[faithnotgreed]

7. yes,, i know he has been ill and it has been in the works for him to step

down out of necessity

and your explanation does make sense but its just quite strange timing.
i guess ms o connors departure has shaken things up so considerably - while we were all expecting rehnquist - its just a difficult thing to wrap around. and it is obviously monumental.
i can appreciate any last acts of balance and democracy by these justices.

thanks for responding.

[CatholicEdHead]

15. Don't count on that

Rove et al can see it to their advantage to have two right wing idologes. To them it is all the more reason to attack "liberals".

To them the word moderate is blasphemous.

[WCGreen]

5. He's 80 years old and is battling Throat CAncer.....

HE wasn't the ideolouge that Tony S is and was more a centrist than he is portrayed in the media. A real consensus builder.

A recent New Yorker did a very in depth article about the man behind the robe. Interesting.

[faithnotgreed]

10. yes... it is unfortunate when anyone is that ill.

see my above post. i did know he was ill but the other resignation has thrown things for a loop.

i dont know why exactly i responded with surprise. i think because it was so close to one another that i wonder why she went first given the knowledge that he was going to step down so soon. perhaps that is what has me confused. im not quite sure

[onehandle]

13. None of the conservatives wanted to leave during Clinton.

The Moderates and Liberals are clinging on for dear life.

We knew this was coming.

Rehnquist and O'Connor are leaving when the best President they can imagine is in the Oval Office. He's a quality civil servant that reflects the best in them.

[tritsofme]

14. Rehquist probably didn't want to overshadow O'Connor

by resigning at the same time.

[Yupster]

19. It does seem like

something is wrong with out system when major decisions of government and democracy rest on the health of some 85 year olds.

There must be a better way to do it than this.

[PretzelWarrior]

6. apparently Pat Robertson's prayers have worked

thanks Pat.

[Mountainman]

8. Praise Jesus, now we'll end abortions forever and put the queers back

in the closets for good! haliluia and praise the Lord!

sarcasm off.

I will support women's rights and the rights of the Gay community for ever!

[woodleydem]

9. I think we will be hearing "Chief Justice Gonzales" very soon.

This gives Bush the perfect scenario to nominate Gonzales as Chief, and I think he very much wants to have a "Gonzales Court" for a long time. (Alberto is only 49) He can nominate Gonzales as Chief, and then nominate some RW nut job and still claim to have balance on the Court. Plus, that would only mean two confirmation hearings, whereas if he puts Scalia as Chief, that would mean three confirmation hearings. I seriously doubt that. I really think Bush cares less about the actual legal ramifications of his appointments, but more about leaving his mark on the Court, which a Gonzales confirmation would do. And politically, the Republicans will reap rewards from the fastest growing minority group by nominating one of their own as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, which is a much more visible and glamorous position than AG.

That would be the smart thing for Bush to do, but alas, this is Bush we are talking about here, so intelligence is out the window.

[zulchzulu]

11. Does David Souter have a sister? A cousin?

This is getting a little TOO scary for my tastes.

Imagine the Giggling Murderer with two chances to turn America into a theocratic, fascist state all while he believes "God" made him Pretzeldent...

Maybe when the Court overturns Roe v Wade and continues to screw over the rights of Americans, we can finally have either a revolution or a coup and finally take America back.

Oh nevermind...after Roe v Wade, the backup plan is gittin' them gays fer Jesus...

Time to look at condos in Paris.

[zinndependence]

18. I'm going to brag a little right now....

I met Justice Souter in 2002. I was lucky enough to attend a small reception at the Supreme Court in June of 2002 and Justice Souter was the guest of honor. I actually got to shake his hand!!!

I'm such a nerd!

[VolcanoJen]

22. You're no nerd.

Meeting a Supreme is an event! Way to go!

[Catherine Vincent]

12. A few others on that court are looking sickly and are too old.

But they are hanging on. Power must be a wonderful thing.

[elperromagico]

16. I figure there'll be more to come in the next few years.

Rehnquist is 80.
Stevens is 85.
Ginsburg is 72.

The youngest Justice, Thomas, is 57. The rest are in their late 60s.

How many Justices will Bush get to appoint before his term runs out? Three? Four? Will half the Court consist of Bush appointees by the time the Shrub walks out of the White House door?

[zinndependence]

17. I'm not surprised both retired this year...

Both have been thinking about retirement for a while....I'm sure neither was willing to retire in a presidential election year, so the timing make perfect sense.

If Justice Stevens retires, then I will sink into a deep, dark, depression. (Isn't he older than Rehnquist?)

With Rehnquist and O'Connor retiring, we can at least hope for appointments that maintain the status quo. There is no way we will get another liberal like Stevens if he chooses to retire while Bush is still in office.

With all the disappointments Democrats have faced the past 5+ years, it is hard sometimes to keep fighting the good fight. We can't give up now. Too much is at stake. I'm sending emails to every congressman and woman I can think of...and I'm contacting friends and family and urging them to send emails as well. I'll have to get out my checkbook and send something to NOW, the ACLU, etc.

I guess I'll shut up now...

[kerrygoddess]

20. Rumor mill rampant

And if the rumor mill is correct, we can expect another Supreme Court resignation tomorrow morning. TalkLeft reported earlier today that “ Robert Novak's new column says Chief Justice William Rehnquist will announce his retirement before the end of this week.” http://www.lightupthedarkness.org/blog/default.asp?view...

[CityDem]

21. Ginsberg goes after Rehnquist

Her health is worse than most people know and she is rumored to step down later this year. That will give Bush at least 3 appointments to the court. If Steven goes, Bush will have appointed enough conservatives to make the court 6-3 conservative. Ouch!