Justice Breyer to Retire, Left is Gleeful
Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer has announced his retirement. Well, actually it was announced for him. The nation had to wait a day or two to hear from him. Even President Biden has refrained from saying Breyer retired until the Justice made the confirming statement.
It is an unusual time for a Supreme Court Justice to announce a retirement. They are still in the midst of the Court’s judicial season. Retirements are usually offered when the high Court goes on summer vacation at the end of June.
Some have speculated that Breyer’s retirement wasn’t volunteered, but rather coerced by the premature announcement and pressure from the White House. There may have been some political gamesmanship in forcing the announcement early. He probably let folks know that he intended to retire after this session.
So, why would the insiders leak it? Simple. They want as much time before the 2022 Midterm Elections to start the replacement process. A July announcement would give Biden and the Senate just four months to nominate and confirm a replacement. They actually have until January 2023, but if the Republicans win the Senate and the House, it sets up a more difficult political reality.
Those on the left are peeing in their pants in excitement over getting a new – and younger – person on the Court. It avoids their worst fear – that Breyer would hang in there and eventually retire or die with a Republican in the White House.
They seem to be anticipating a quick and easy confirmation. But with a 50/50 split Senate, Biden will need every Democrat and Vice President Harris to break a tie. However, they could get Republican votes – depending on who Biden nominates.
And no matter how fast Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer pushes for a quick confirmation, the new justice will not be seated until the next Court session in October. Breyer will be finishing this session.
Based on the Senate’s modern tradition of advise and consent, whoever Biden nominates is going to be put through the political wringer. She will be Bork-ed – the term coined after the Democrats’ brutal and disgusting attack on nominee Robert Bork. It set the tone because it worked. To be fair to the Senate, there have been nominees who gained wide support — Ruth Bader Ginsberg, being one of them.
Speaking of Harris. I was pondering a commentary suggesting that Biden – and some Democrats — may want Harris out of the vice presidency before the end of his term. An appointment to the Supreme Court is one way. But she does not appear to be on the list of potential nominees. I will get to why Biden may want Harris out before 2024 in a later commentary.
In terms of the make-up of the Court, Breyer’s stepping down is macht nichts. It will not change the balance of the Court. There will still be a six-to-three (mostly) conservative majority.
Perhaps the most interesting element in this story is the fact that Biden promised during the campaign that he would pick a black woman. Some argue that making gender and skin color the primary consideration is too much of a bend to identity politics and political correctness. But … it would not be the first time a presidential candidate made such a promise – and kept it. Candidate Ronald Reagan promised to put the first woman on the high court – and kept that promise by nominating Justice Sandra Day O’Conner.
Biden said it and he is going to do it. That is not to say that there are not a number of very qualified black women Democrats from which to choose. Some more controversial than others, of course.
Breyer’s lame-duck status on the Court may be a disappointment to him, but the votes on the major issues are already firmly in the minds of the justices. We only have to wait until they start rolling out their decisions according to timing and protocol.
The addition of a woman – black or otherwise – will mean that the Court will have more ladies on the bench than ever before. Of course, that is a statistic without any relevancy since judicial philosophy is what matters. But I thought I would mention it anyway.
For the next days or weeks, the press will be speculating over the ups and downs of the various candidates. To some measure, they will be promoting their favorites. At this point, the money is on Washington. D.C. Court of Appeals Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson. I am not so sure. She is arguably the most controversial and the least likely to get Republican votes– and may even lose a Democrat or two.
If Biden wants to get all the Democrat senators — and even some Republicans to make it bipartisan — he would fare better with California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger or South Carolina US District Court Judge J. Michelle Childs.
The Biden White House will be testing names with key senators. As he does, you can rest assured that there will be a lot of back-room politicking and bickering … a lot of leaked history on the potential nominees … and a lot of armchair speculation by the media.
Finally, will placing a black woman on the Supreme Court improve Democrat chances in the 2022 Midterm Election, as many pundits claim? I doubt it.
So, there ‘tis.
Just trading one leftist for another. No big thing
I wouldn’t say gleeful, just relieved that he didn’t make the same mistake as RBG, whose lack of foresight will negatively impact hundreds of millions of Americans over the next 30 yrs.
The left reminded him of what happened to justice Scalia
“So, there ‘tis.” copyright infringement? plagiarism? guess that makes you not fit for office :>)
Yes, I was amazed that Beyer retiring reversed Joe’s polls at the speed of light. Now the economy is great, supply chain fixed, omicron over, drop the masks and party on Wayne…… Didn’t hurt that major Republican leadership in the Senate, apparently born much after Regan and a bit short on their party history, threw the race card calling Biden’s filter “affirmative action and worse. Thanks for the bluebird Mr. Wicker; what a basket case :>)
In politics, even puppies counting in dog years look old. Amazing what a day brings.
I still say it’s a long winter for Biden and it ain’t over yet.
Market is rocky at best, they didn’t say: “buy now, Beyer bye bye…..” Economy is rocky, for every good number there’s someone hurting or doing worse than yesterday. Covid is not over, maybe omicron is, but maybe it isn’t. Hackers stopped my cream cheese, Florida orange crop worst yield since WWII. We got a long time until Spring and nothing great will break before then, IMO, IM-guesstimate.
Perv Biden and the GESTOPO of the democratic party say they want only a BLACK FEMALE for a chair on the Supreme Court. Picking or choosing someone for a position based on their race , is ILLEGAL and UNCONSTITUTIONAL !!! Can you imagine the meltdown the democratic GESTOPO and the FAKE opinion networks would have if President Trump would have said ” I will only consider a HISPANIC FEMALE ” ????? All the NAZIS on the left would act like the world is coming to an end !!!! LETS GO BRANDON !!!
perv Biden, gestapo, fake opinion networks, nazis, let’s go brandon — do these folks have a playbook or what. Maybe they should actually look before they leap, check before they spew.
Does Bob not read the news?
““I am announcing today that one of the first Supreme Court vacancies in my administration will be filled by the most qualified woman I can possibly find. … It is time for a woman to sit among the highest jurists.” Reagan. The true leader of the Republican Party,
Carter said he was going for votes, wow, Carter, nice.
When reviewing Scalia’s resume, Reagan asked if he were of Italian extraction and hearing, yes, said: that’s the man I want to nominate… No one knows exactly why, but could be he just thought it right for some reason.
President Trump said: “It will be a woman — a very talented, very brilliant woman,” at a rally in North Carolina. “We haven’t chosen yet, but we have numerous women on the list.” hmmmm, I bet you do Big Boy. So, prequalifying on race is bad, but prequalifying on gender is, well, Republican.
President Eisenhower told his attorney general, “I still want the name of some fine, prominent Catholic to nominate to the bench.” And he did. He’s a Republican. So, race is bad, but gender and religion are OK. Ever hear of church and scotus, I mean state….
Gee, Bob, your eloquently stated position is the exact opposite of your own party for decades across some of the greatest Presidents your party has even turned out for the Presidency. What comes to mind? Bob, “we’ve got serious problems, and we need serious people. And if you want to talk about character, Bob, you’d better come at me with more than a burning flag and a membership card. If you want to talk about character and American values, fine. Just tell me where and when, and I’ll show up. This a time for serious people, Bob, and your fifteen minutes are up.” The American President.
perv Biden, gestapo, fake opinion networks, nazis, let’s go brandon
Don’t you ever stfu?
Larry,
The Supreme Court, theoretically, is an apolitical body. The founders set out designing a balance of power among the three branches each with a check on the other. The two political branches need an impartial referee for political disputes over constitutional law and new laws and amendments added by proposed legislation. The best designs of mice and men often go astray. So, it is with the hallowed court where people find their last hope. It is the court of last resort. Justice is blind, Or, it is supposed to be, theoretically..
In reality, justice is held captive by politics. Justice is best served on the balance scale when neither party has a thumb on it, shifting the scale in favor of one party’s agenda.
At present the court is loaded with the Republican right agenda. Republicans denied Obama’s appointments in his last months of his second term. Those same Republicans flipped their views on the matter in Trump’s last months. They were all in then, when they held the majority rule and say..
Both, times they held all the political cards. Yet, justice was not served, because it’s all political.
The Republicans want their cake and eat it all, too.
Admittedly., SOTUS, has long been a politicized branch. A succession of Presidents since way back to the nation’s founding. It truly is not as the founders originally meant for the court’s future. However, being realists the prospect that politics’ ugliness was probable was something they could not deter, constitutionally.
At some point since the first court assembled the scale tipped and it embarked on the slippery slope. The rest, ad it is said, is American History.
Trump himself as President handily upped the ante with a threesome unarguably the least interested in truth and Justice or an apolitical approach’s benefit. They are indebted to Trump and have begun repayment.
Biden’s choice will be an asset to the court, the nation, justice, and strengthen democracy
All PBP’s ranting to the contrary don’t make what you all believe true, wisdom is not altogether in your domaine. In, fact, the emperor’s new clothes so admired on the politically right, will soon be revealed as a hoax. A breath of fresh air is coming to the high bench. No matter what you think of Biden and all Democrats, this country is in better hands now.