ABC: WH preparing for TWO Supreme Court Vacancies

[ProSense]

ABC: WH preparing for TWO Supreme Court Vacancies

In what would be an interesting turn of events, the WH is preparing for two Supreme Court vacancies. Court watchers think that Ginsburg and Stevens will both announce their retirements in the summer before the midterms.

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[still_one]

1. and as far as that is concerned, that is why it is imperitive that we have a Democratic President

[Orrex]

2. Of course, it would be nice if we weren't the minority party in Congress...

[FrenchieCat]

3. The media counts for at least an additional 20 senators on the GOP side.....

at the very least!

[CoffeeCat]

5. Oh geez....that's so true...

...and such a disappointment. We'll never be able to overcome
that mean Republican minority. They're just too mean. And scary.

We all know that legislation never passes when we're scared.

[DFLforever]

4. Stevens had been holding back

but seems to have been impressed with the appointment of Sotomayor.

Trusts the Pres to well replace him.

[AllyCat]

6. I do trust Obama to appoint a reasonable candidate to each seat.

That is one good thing I can say about him.

[krawhitham]

7. he needs to go younger next time

[marlakay]

10. I agree Bush put people in that will be there forever it

seems like. Also healthy people. I like who Obama picked but she has diabetes and as she gets older it could get worse.

[secondwind]

31. most SCOTUS nominees are approved........unless there is something really

flagrant or radical in their pasts.

THIS MAKES ME SOOO HAPPY!!

[donheld]

8. I don't trust our Numb nuts Senate to confirm a reasonable candidate

:scared::scared:

[AllyCat]

19. Isn't the Senate confirmation of SC justices just a straight majority?

Or are you thinking they'll put a hold on new justices, just like they have with all of Obama's cabinet appointments?

[donheld]

33. I think they can filibuster them too

:grr:

[AllyCat]

37. It is time to end the filibuster. I know we needed it a few times with * in WH

but it is obstructionist more than it helps.

[MidwestTransplant]

9. They better not wait that long. The wingnuts will squash any chance of filling their seats

before the midterms.

[AllentownJake]

11. Oh wonderful!

Actually this can play one of two ways, if the GOP acts like total clowns, which I highly suspect they will, it might be enough to get the base off their ass and vote in 2010.

It will be after the GOP primaries so the need to posture too much to the right, won't be as necessary and fund raising mailings on two new extremist judges (qualified progressive judges who are less ideological than any of the 4 on the right) would better suit their needs, however they aren't that bright.

[davidpdx]

12. Damn I was hoping one of them would be that asshole Scalia

He's the one I have the most distain for next to Roberts and Thomas.

[LiberalFighter]

13. What we need is some idea on Scalia's health.

He will be 74 next month. Actuarial tables give him 10.84 years left to live. He has a probability of .039188 chance of dying within one year.

There are two options. Both of which we should strive hard to accomplish.

A) With Obama re-elected in 2012 the Republican Party needs to be severely fractured with elected Republicans completely hopeless about their future. That also includes electing better Democrats and putting the screws to Democrats that are useless. Scalia will then feel no need to hold on til after 2016.

B) We need to have a backup in case a Scalia vacancy doesn't occur in that time period. That requires having a Democrat elected in 2016. It would be helpful if the Republicans are not recovering and they have continued to be idiots. I don't foresee Biden as the nominee and possibly not the VP in Obama's second term. Maybe there will be more input on Obama's VP in his re-election with the expectation that the nominee will be the President. Whoever it is needs to be highly qualified to win re-election. If Scalia hasn't retired by before the end of Obama's 2nd term another highly qualified Democrat should dishearten Scalia enough to retire or die.


The vast majority of Supreme Court Justices retire. The last Justice to die in office before Rehnquist was Robert H Jackson in 1954.

Another option is to have Scalia prescribed high dosages of Placidyl as was prescribed for Rehnquist.

[davidpdx]

24. Meh, I thought he was older then that

I'm disappointed. If Obama got reelected (and I'm using if) he'd have another 7 years. I guess that would give us a good chance to replace him if he has 11 years or so to live (and then again, he could surprise us and live longer). I think he'd try to hold out if Obama was reelected until 2016 to see if a Pube was a elected though. So I think you are right, we'd have to find a good candidate and keep the White House beyond 2016.

[Blasphemer]

34. We desperately need to get rid of one of the gang of five. Any one will do... nt

[davidpdx]

35. No kidding

But Scalia and Thomas are probably the most likely suspects since they are older. Kennedy can swing liberal on some of the votes. It's just too bad he didn't on a quite a few large ones.

[mdmc]

14. I will die a little if we end up putting one dem / one gop on the court

just to get by the gop minority..

[AlinPA]

16. There will be two GOP judges. Reid and his weaklings will accomodate the GOP-they certainly

don't want to anger their "friends".

[Drunken Irishman]

29. Like they did with Sotomayor? That fascist Latina!

[Sebastian Doyle]

17. I just hope Obama doesn't buy into the "bipartisan" bullshit narrative on this one

Stevens was a Republican (Ford) appointee, as crazy as that seems now. The Repukes will insist he's replaced by another Republican.

[AlinPA]

15. That looks like two more permanent filibusters on judges. No way they will approved. nt

[GrantDem]

18. I'm sure in the interest of bi-partisanship the President will nominate two "moderates".

I sincerely hope I am wrong...

[harun]

21. We will not get a counter weight to the Fascists. But I hope I am wrong as well.

[Drunken Irishman]

25. Right. Because the last justice he nominated was a 'moderate'.

Some of you people have the shortest memory in history or are keen on revisionist history.

The fact Pres. Obama nominated a competent and fairly progressive justice not even a year ago suggests to me he won't do what you're accusing him of doing.

But go right ahead and make yourself look foolish. LOL

:eyes:

[Phx_Dem]

20. With the utmost respect to two of our best jurists, if they are going

to go, I hope they do so soon, before midterms. I wish both of them could stay for another 20 years, but trust that President Obama will nominate suitable replacements.

[Paladin]

22. So---Have Arrangements Been Made For Immediate Bi-Partisan Input?

I mean, we Democrats surely wouldn't want to end up with a couple of new liberal justices, now would we? Better we should include the Republicans from the get-go, so that everything turns out hunky-dory.......

(Sarcasm alert, I guess.....)

[polichick]

23. The sad thing is that's probably not far from the truth. nt

[Drunken Irishman]

26. You guess?

C'mon now. Do you not even recall the last Justice Obama nominated?

Yeesh.

[firedupdem]

27. Great choice with Sotomayer....he'll appoint two more

excellent libs. n/t

[Drunken Irishman]

28. Nope. Sotomayor was obviously a bipartisan caving by the Obama administration.

I mean, that's what some DUers are telling me when they suggest Obama will sell out the Supreme Court for bipartisanship. Because, you know, he has a history doing just that. :eyes:

[jesus_of_suburbia]

32. I'd love two more of her (but better).

I love that she is Latino,

but I hope the next two are a little younger and a little better health. Any sex, any race, any orientation, etc.... I just want them to serve for as long as possible and be liberal.


Sotomayer was a good choice. I just want the next 2 to be even better.



For what it's worth, I don't want Hillary, because I'd rather have someone in their late 40's or very early 50's. Nobody is ever guaranteed a life expectancy, but we know that the younger someone is, the more likely they will live 3 or 4 decades.


Roberts and Alito will be trolling the Supreme Court for at least 2 more decades I bet. We need to make sure we appoint people who can live even longer.

[Independent_Voice]

30. My prediction...

Stevens and Ginsburg announce their retirements the same week, forcing Obama to make two nominations in tandem.

Obama appoints either an Asian male and a black woman, or two women (one of whom will be Asian).

Both will be thoroughly-vetted progressives with some moderate leanings -- neither will have a blatant paper trail of controversial rulings/statements (unlike Alito or Sotomayor).

Both will be confirmed, after the GOP tries to filibuster only the more liberal nominee of the two -- and it backfires on the Senate Republican leadership badly.

[peggygirl]

36. Wow!! Somebody doesn't want you talk about this. nt