US Cheif Justice Rehnquist has thiroid cancer

[qwerty]

FOX News just reported that the 80 year old Justice, the longest serving on the current court, is in the hospital, but I haven't found anything online yet.

We could see him resigning very soon, I think...

[Democratic Hawk]

I wish Chief Justice Rehnquist well.

Dave

[Wakie]

If Bush loses the election look for a speedy resignation by Rehnquist and a nomination of Alberto Gonzales to the Supreme Court.

[Democratic Hawk]

If Bush loses the election look for a speedy resignation by Rehnquist and a nomination of Alberto Gonzales to the Supreme Court.

Would that be a progressive move?

Dave

[minionofmidas]

If Bush loses the election look for a speedy resignation by Rehnquist and a nomination of Alberto Gonzales to the Supreme Court.

Would that be a progressive move?

Dave

No.

Is this true, btw?
Nixon has posted untrue stuff about people ill or dead before...

[qwerty]

It's true.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/10/25/rehnquist/index.html

[Wakie]

If Bush loses the election look for a speedy resignation by Rehnquist and a nomination of Alberto Gonzales to the Supreme Court.

Would that be a progressive move?

Dave

No, not really.  Gonzales is the White House Chief Counsel.  I've read that he is the top choice for a fast track Supreme Court nominee.  His opinions aren't nearly as contraversial of some other Bush judicial nominees but ideologically he falls into line with Thomas and Scalia.  If the Democrats questioned his nomination the Republicans would play the race card ('you're challenging him because he's Hispanic').

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

If Bush is defeated, he will not be able to nominate anyone as a lame duck.  The Democrats in the Senate could just stall until Kerry is inaugerated,

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Given that I would expect that the Chief Justice to get regular exams, I suspect taht this was almost caught early, in which case it shouldn't really be a problem.  Thyroid cancer is very survivable and you basically have to have waited until it spread throughut the body to have any real risk of dying from it.  I can't see this by itself as something that would cause Rehnquist to resign, no matter who wins the Presidency this December.

[A18]

If Bush is defeated, he will not be able to nominate anyone as a lame duck.  The Democrats in the Senate could just stall until Kerry is inaugerated,

And then the GOP would return the favor, resulting in zero Kerry nominees every getting on the bench. Certainly not Supreme Court justices.

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

If Bush is defeated, he will not be able to nominate anyone as a lame duck.  The Democrats in the Senate could just stall until Kerry is inaugerated,

And then the GOP would return the favor, resulting in zero Kerry nominees every getting on the bench. Certainly not Supreme Court justices.

You could delay for two months, most of which time the Senate is in recess.   You couldn't delay for four years; at the very least, the Republicans would get destroyed at the midterms.

[A18]

You can delay as long as you want.

Republicans wouldn't be hurt by it in the least.

[Beefalow and the Consumer]

You can delay as long as you want.

Republicans wouldn't be hurt by it in the least.

If anything, it will bolster their support in the 30-or-so states in which pro-life politics rules the day.

If Kerry wins this thing, there is going to be a nationwide grassroots movement to prop up Senators who refuse to confirm pro-abortion judges.  States with Senate elections in 2006, and incumbent party:

Republican incumbent:
IN, TN, MS, UT, TX, MO, PA, MT, OH, VA, ME, RI, AZ, NV, WY

Democrat incumbent:
CA, MA, WV, WI, NM, MN, FL, MI, NY, NE, WA, NJ, ND, MD, CT, DE, HI

Independent: VT

Republicans in "liberal' states include:
Olympia Snowe (ME),
Rick Santorum (PA),
and Linclon Chafee (RI) - who isn't really a Republican, so we won't count him. 
Snowe is probably safe, and I have a feeling Santorum is going to scrape through.

Democrats in pro-life states include:
Robert Byrd (WV) who is getting old,
Herb Kohl (WI) who is invulnerable but could retire OR face Tommy Thompson,
Mark Dayton (MN) who will face a strong challenge from Mark Kennedy,
Bill Nelson (FL) who could be facing Katherine Harris,
Ben Nelson (NE),
Kent Conrad (ND)

So, we have two GOP Senate seats that could be threatened by this, but at least two and as many as five Democrat seats where this could be a problem.

Anyway, all they need to block Kerry's liberal appointees is 41 total. :-)

[WMS]

You can delay as long as you want.

Republicans wouldn't be hurt by it in the least.

If anything, it will bolster their support in the 30-or-so states in which pro-life politics rules the day.

If Kerry wins this thing, there is going to be a nationwide grassroots movement to prop up Senators who refuse to confirm pro-abortion judges.  States with Senate elections in 2006, and incumbent party:

Republican incumbent:
IN, TN, MS, UT, TX, MO, PA, MT, OH, VA, ME, RI, AZ, NV, WY

Democrat incumbent:
CA, MA, WV, WI, NM, MN, FL, MI, NY, NE, WA, NJ, ND, MD, CT, DE, HI

Independent: VT

Republicans in "liberal' states include:
Olympia Snowe (ME),
Rick Santorum (PA),
and Linclon Chafee (RI) - who isn't really a Republican, so we won't count him. 
Snowe is probably safe, and I have a feeling Santorum is going to scrape through.

Democrats in pro-life states include:
Robert Byrd (WV) who is getting old,
Herb Kohl (WI) who is invulnerable but could retire OR face Tommy Thompson,
Mark Dayton (MN) who will face a strong challenge from Mark Kennedy,
Bill Nelson (FL) who could be facing Katherine Harris,
Ben Nelson (NE),
Kent Conrad (ND)

So, we have two GOP Senate seats that could be threatened by this, but at least two and as many as five Democrat seats where this could be a problem.

Anyway, all they need to block Kerry's liberal appointees is 41 total. :-)

I would add Jeff Bingaman to the list of 'Democrats in pro-life states', since I'm pretty darn sure NM is a pro-life state. I don't know if he'd be in trouble or not though...

[Wakie]

You can delay as long as you want.

Republicans wouldn't be hurt by it in the least.

It is possible to block one or two nominees.  But eventually it would become blatantly clear that they are behaving like petulant children.

[Beefalow and the Consumer]

You can delay as long as you want.

Republicans wouldn't be hurt by it in the least.

It is possible to block one or two nominees.  But eventually it would become blatantly clear that they are behaving like petulant children.

You mean, like the Democrats in the 106th and 108th Senate?

[Wakie]

You mean, like the Democrats in the 106th and 108th Senate?

Umm ... the Dems held up 6 nominees but confirmed the majority of Bush's judicial nominees.  We're talking here about what would be 1 very important appointment.  It would be possible to block 1 or 2 or even 6 different nominees for this one position, but eventually it would reflect poorly on the GOP.

BTW, if you want to rehash those 6 nominees that were held up we can.  Personally I was ok with the nominations of Kuhl, Rogers Brown, and Estrada but had HUGE HUGE problems with Owen, Pryor, and Pickering.

[Beefalow and the Consumer]

You mean, like the Democrats in the 106th and 108th Senate?

Umm ... the Dems held up 6 nominees but confirmed the majority of Bush's judicial nominees.  We're talking here about what would be 1 very important appointment.  It would be possible to block 1 or 2 or even 6 different nominees for this one position, but eventually it would reflect poorly on the GOP.

BTW, if you want to rehash those 6 nominees that were held up we can.  Personally I was ok with the nominations of Kuhl, Rogers Brown, and Estrada but had HUGE HUGE problems with Owen, Pryor, and Pickering.

The whole Pickering thing was one of the most blatant distortions of fact and shameless character assassinations I have ever seen.

[Wakie]

Well, personally I'm uncomfortable with Pickering as a judge.

As a law student in 1959, Pickering wrote an article suggesting a way for Mississippi to strengthen its law against interracial marriage. Soon after his law school graduation, he formed a three-person law partnership with a man who ran for governor as a "total segregationist." Later, as a legislator serving in the all-white Mississippi state Senate, he voted against several measures intended to expand electoral opportunities for African- Americans. He also voted to continue funding for the Sovereignty Commission, a notorious state-funded agency founded to fight desegregation in Mississippi and to spy on civil rights and union activists.

Pickering’s rulings in a number of cases involving constitutional and other issues have been reversed by even conservative appellate court judges for violating “well-settled principles of law.” In addition, Pickering has engaged as a judge in what several legal ethics experts called unethical conduct in seeking a more lenient sentence for a defendant convicted in a cross-burning case.  He repeatedly used off-the-record threats and other methods to force prosecutors to drop the most serious charge against the defendant. Pickering then sentenced him to 27 months in prison-almost five fewer years than the law required-for an act that he called a "drunken prank."

He has rarely ruled in favor of an employment discrimination plaintiff. When asked about his unbalanced record on employment discrimination cases at his 2002 confirmation hearing, Pickering made the outrageous assertion that meritorious claims are resolved by the EEOC and generally only those lacking in merit are brought to the federal courts.

He is guilty of perjury.  At his 1990 hearing for a district court seat, Pickering stated under oath: "I never had any contact with [the Sovereignty Commission] and I had disagreement with the purposes and the methods and some of the approaches that they took." Not only had Pickering voted to fund the Sovereignty Commission, recently released documents include a memo to the Commission's files indicating that Pickering was "very interested" in a Sovereignty Commission investigation into union activity in his hometown and "requested to be apprised of developments" regarding the investigation.

Judge Pickering's nomination has been opposed by a broad coalition of public interest groups, including the NAACP, National Council of Women's Organizations, National Women's Law Center, and the Society of American Law Teachers. In addition, the Congressional Black Caucus has written a letter opposing Pickering's confirmation to the Fifth Circuit:

"We would like to make our position perfectly clear to you and the Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The Congressional Black Caucus adamantly opposes the nomination of Mr. Pickering to the Fifth Circuit. Mr. Pickering's career and record on civil rights is a grave concern. Mr. Pickering also has a quarter-century of hostility to women's rights"