Procrastinet

Oh Shit

filed under: Stuff to worry about

Yeah so Sandra Day O'Connor is retiring from the Supreme Court. Since Rehnquist is right now running at about 40% dead, that means Bush will likely preside over the appointment of not one but two SCOTUS justices.

TWO. Plus Scalia. Plus Thomas. That makes four of nine whose ideology can be expected to sit somewhere to the starboard of Machiavelli.

Plus, why has nobody been talking about Justice Stevens?! The man was born in 1920. NINETEEN TWENTY. Which means... carry the four... he's EIGHTY-FIVE. Meaning unless he can continue to practice until shortly before his 88th birthday, that's another Bush appointee slot opening up.

Look, I'm no ageist, my grandfather played tennis every day until he was 80 and my grandmother would be competent to sit on the Supreme Court right now and she's north of 90. But still. 88 is OLD, dude. I'm just sayin.

Here's the current rundown:

William H. Rehnquist: b. 10/1/1924 - 80 y.o.; Nixon appointee, Reagan nominated for Chief Justice

John Paul Stevens: b. 4/20/1920 - 85 y.o.; Ford appointee

Sandra Day O'Connor: b. 3/26/1930 - 75 y.o.; Reagan appointee

Antonin Scalia: b. 3/11/1936 - 69 y.o.; Reagan appointee

Anthony M. Kennedy: b. 6/23/1936 - 69 y.o.; Reagan appointee

David Hackett Souter: b. 9/17/1939 - 65 y.o.; Bush I appointee

Clarence Thomas: b. 6/23/1948 - 57 y.o.; Bush I appointee

Ruth Bader Ginsburg: b. 3/15/1933 - 72 y.o.; Clinton appointee

Stephen G. Breyer: 8/15/1938 - 66 y.o.; Clinton appointee

So hey everybody! Get ready for what the country will look like under Chief Justice Scalia, with up to three Bush II appointees under him!

UPDATE: I've just heard that Justice Stevens refuses to resign under a Bush administration. So as long as he holds onto his health and faculties, he's determined to make it to 88 on the bench. God be with you, Justice Stevens. And don't you go be with God just yet, y'hear?

Posted by rjt at July 1, 2005 11:13 AM