Nation-Building

The news just broke an hour or so ago that Supreme Court Justice David Souter will retire. Souter was appointed by George HW Bush and proceeded to drive conservatives insane by refusing to bend to the right-wing agenda. Instead he has been what I consider a moderate voice on the court, though in general he has voted along with the liberal bloc. He was not as unpredictable as Justice Sandra Day O'Connor was, for example. Naturally this gives President Obama an opportunity to leave his mark by appointing a judge early on in his term - and thanks to Sen. Arlen Specter's party switch a few days ago, the Republicans are in a uniquely powerless position to interfere with Obama's selection. Unfortunately, this golden opportunity is kind of wasted, since Souter was already a member of the liberal bloc on the Court, so any pick Obama is likely to make probably won't vote much differently than Souter would have, on average. A real coup would have been for a conservative justice ...

a very thought-provoking comment at RedState caught my eye: Just wondering by Menlo I'm starting to wonder if the Supreme Court is a lost cause given the Democrat majority is likely to only grow. No one who is any good could get 60 votes for cloture with the current Senate makeup (or worse). Whether the President will cave in (as Reagan did) remains to be seen. Saying he would appoint people like Roberts and Alito is a mistake, since we know very little about where they stand. I was not very supportive of either after the confirmation hearings, and I'm still not convinced. It could be misleading to lump them in with Thomas and Scalia. There were actually a few judges about whom conservatives spoke very highly that I would oppose and one in particular I am glad left the whole judiciary. There is no meaningful way a Presidential candidate can say who he would appoint. Everyone is so different, and opposing sides use the same adjectives to the point where no adjective describes ...