I think this could be bad
I just stumbled across this via Low Culture - a shortened version below.
I didn't know anything about how the US Supreme Court worked until I read the article, but I think this is really bad:
Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, the first woman to serve on the United States Supreme Court and a crucial swing vote on abortion and a host of other divisive social issues, announced today that she was resigning, setting up what is sure to be a tumultuous fight over confirming her successor.
After months in which speculation about the Supreme Court focused on the likelihood of Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist's stepping down, the resignation of Justice O'Connor, 75, caught much of Washington, including the White House and her own colleagues on the court, off guard. Even so, the armies of ideological activists from both sides who had massed in anticipation of a battle over replacing the chief justice, a reliable conservative, quickly pivoted to what they agreed was an even higher-stakes showdown for control of a seat that could alter the court's balance on an array of polarizing topics.
Justice O'Connor's decision creates the first vacancy on the court in 11 years, ending the longest period without a change in the line-up of justices in almost two centuries, and it provides President Bush with his first opportunity to name a Supreme Court justice. The chief White House spokesman, Scott McClellan, said the president would not make a selection until after returning from a summit meeting next week in Scotland.
Since joining the court in 1981, replacing Justice Potter Stewart, Justice O'Connor has been at the very center of the court in almost every sense, and has held or helped define the balance of power on many of the issues of broadest concern to the nation, including affirmative action, the death penalty and religion.
But it was her stance on abortion, and in particular her role in reaffirming Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling that put the court on the side of abortion rights, that put her most squarely in the middle of culture wars that have increasingly dominated not just the courts but political discourse in general.
Replacing her with an opponent of abortion rights would not by itself be enough to overturn Roe v. Wade; it would take a shift of two votes in the court's current composition to do so. But it would change the balance of power on the court when it comes to lesser restrictions on abortion, such as bans on the procedure its opponents call partial-birth abortion, and it would move the court that much closer to overturning Roe, the long held goal of many social conservatives.
It is still not clear whether Chief Justice Rehnquist, who is battling thyroid cancer, will step down this summer, creating another vacancy and expanding the confirmation battle to two fronts.
C. Boyden Gray, a former White House counsel who founded the Committee for Justice - an advocacy group set to back whomever the president nominates - said: "It makes me nervous.
"I'm not sure we are as prepared for an O'Connor vacancy."
One of the liberal groups expected to be active in the looming confirmation battle, People for the American Way, said the choice of her successor would be a critical moment.
"Justice O'Connor has been the most important figure on the court in recent years," said Ralph G. Neas, president of the group. "Her replacement will have a monumental impact on the lives and freedoms of Americans for decades to come."
Mr. Neas urged the president to engage in bipartisan consultations with the Senate before settling on a nominee and to reject pressure from conservatives for an ideological nominee.
Bush's comment to Justice O'Connor on hearing of her resignation?
""For an old ranching girl, you turned out pretty good."
Apparently, Mr. Bush said he would be "deliberate and thorough" in selecting a nominee to replace Justice O'Connor, and he promised to consult with the Senate, which will have to confirm his choice.
Hmm, deliberate and thorough in selecting some ghastly, woman-hating, gay-hating fascist, I'm sure.
I may not really know much about this, but it basically, in summary, it looks America is another step closer to being well and truly fucked.
Doooooooomed.
And now I shall go away and write about Live8.
I didn't know anything about how the US Supreme Court worked until I read the article, but I think this is really bad:
Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, the first woman to serve on the United States Supreme Court and a crucial swing vote on abortion and a host of other divisive social issues, announced today that she was resigning, setting up what is sure to be a tumultuous fight over confirming her successor.
After months in which speculation about the Supreme Court focused on the likelihood of Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist's stepping down, the resignation of Justice O'Connor, 75, caught much of Washington, including the White House and her own colleagues on the court, off guard. Even so, the armies of ideological activists from both sides who had massed in anticipation of a battle over replacing the chief justice, a reliable conservative, quickly pivoted to what they agreed was an even higher-stakes showdown for control of a seat that could alter the court's balance on an array of polarizing topics.
Justice O'Connor's decision creates the first vacancy on the court in 11 years, ending the longest period without a change in the line-up of justices in almost two centuries, and it provides President Bush with his first opportunity to name a Supreme Court justice. The chief White House spokesman, Scott McClellan, said the president would not make a selection until after returning from a summit meeting next week in Scotland.
Since joining the court in 1981, replacing Justice Potter Stewart, Justice O'Connor has been at the very center of the court in almost every sense, and has held or helped define the balance of power on many of the issues of broadest concern to the nation, including affirmative action, the death penalty and religion.
But it was her stance on abortion, and in particular her role in reaffirming Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling that put the court on the side of abortion rights, that put her most squarely in the middle of culture wars that have increasingly dominated not just the courts but political discourse in general.
Replacing her with an opponent of abortion rights would not by itself be enough to overturn Roe v. Wade; it would take a shift of two votes in the court's current composition to do so. But it would change the balance of power on the court when it comes to lesser restrictions on abortion, such as bans on the procedure its opponents call partial-birth abortion, and it would move the court that much closer to overturning Roe, the long held goal of many social conservatives.
It is still not clear whether Chief Justice Rehnquist, who is battling thyroid cancer, will step down this summer, creating another vacancy and expanding the confirmation battle to two fronts.
C. Boyden Gray, a former White House counsel who founded the Committee for Justice - an advocacy group set to back whomever the president nominates - said: "It makes me nervous.
"I'm not sure we are as prepared for an O'Connor vacancy."
One of the liberal groups expected to be active in the looming confirmation battle, People for the American Way, said the choice of her successor would be a critical moment.
"Justice O'Connor has been the most important figure on the court in recent years," said Ralph G. Neas, president of the group. "Her replacement will have a monumental impact on the lives and freedoms of Americans for decades to come."
Mr. Neas urged the president to engage in bipartisan consultations with the Senate before settling on a nominee and to reject pressure from conservatives for an ideological nominee.
Bush's comment to Justice O'Connor on hearing of her resignation?
""For an old ranching girl, you turned out pretty good."
Apparently, Mr. Bush said he would be "deliberate and thorough" in selecting a nominee to replace Justice O'Connor, and he promised to consult with the Senate, which will have to confirm his choice.
Hmm, deliberate and thorough in selecting some ghastly, woman-hating, gay-hating fascist, I'm sure.
I may not really know much about this, but it basically, in summary, it looks America is another step closer to being well and truly fucked.
Doooooooomed.
And now I shall go away and write about Live8.
posted by Elizabeth at 2:58 PM
2 Comments:
Apparently, Mr. Bush said he would be "deliberate and thorough" in selecting a nominee to replace Justice O'Connor, and he promised to consult with the Senate, which will have to confirm his choice.
Hmm, deliberate and thorough in selecting some ghastly, woman-hating, gay-hating fascist, I'm sure.
I may not really know much about this, but it basically, in summary, it looks America is another step closer to being well and truly fucked.
Doooooooomed.
*nodding sadly*
And our (Australia's) Prime Minister is Bush's lapdog.
So is ours. George Michael even wrote a song about it!
Spike, do you know anything about the Olympic effect? I was told by a friend in Sydney that after the Olympic circus sweeps through town, the economy is buggered.
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