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Do the Supremes hate W?

2005.07.06 — Government | Law | George W Bush | by Derek Jensen

Supreme Court construction

Rebuilding the Supreme Court is gonna be hard work. [source]

Last summer, things looked pretty bleak for George W Bush. The election was clearly up for grabs, and a new era of Democratic executives could easily have begun. So why didn't Justice O'Connor and Chief Justice Rehnquist step down then? Junior would have been able to appoint new justices to the Supreme Court before the moment of truth in November. Do they fear his nominees as much as civil libertarians do?

There are some pretty good reasons for even conservative justices to be wary of W's idea of constitutional law. He hates the United States Constitution, for instance.

Do they fear his nominees as much as civil libertarians do?

George W Bush wants several amendments to the Constitution. Among them are:

  • An anti-flag-burning amendment
  • An anti-gay-marriage amendment
  • An anti-abortion amendment
  • An end to presidential term limits

 

"The great democracy voter affirmation presidential salute yee-hah amendment"

Of course, the president wouldn't use these names. In the spirit of the "Clear Skies" and "USA Patriot" acts, he would call them:

  • The super-patriot good luck flag respect amendment
  • The happy marriage old-time tradition amendment
  • The good family cuddly baby protection yum-yum amendment
  • The great democracy voter affirmation presidential salute yee-hah amendment

 

[O'Connor] might well have preferred to step down during a Kerry presidency while Congress was still controlled by Republicans who would temper Kerry's choice....

O'Connor held out for a discrete seven months after the election to turn in her curt resignation. She's the swing vote, a moderate (former?) Republican who disagrees with Bush's Justice Department as often as she agrees with it. She might well have preferred to step down during a Kerry presidency while Congress was still controlled by Republicans who would temper Kerry's choice of nominee, effectively replacing herself with a moderate (former?) Democrat and bringing balance to this conservative court.

Rehnquist may be another matter. He surely would prefer to be replaced by a strong conservative, altho not necessarily one chosen by a president who wants several amendments to the Constitution. Could it be that even he was hoping for a Kerry win so that the court could avoid Bush's politicization?

It seems more likely that Rehnquist... wants to stay as long as he is breathing (machine-assisted or not).

And is Rehnquist hanging on now despite severe health problems only in hopes of outlasting Bush (or at least the record for a sitting Supreme)?

It seems more likely that Rehnquist just loves his job and wants to stay as long as he is breathing (machine-assisted or not). After all, this is the guy who gave himself gold stripes to show that he is first among equals.

 

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