Bill Kristol of Weekly Standard fame is speculating that we will have a Supreme Court vacancy as soon as next week (when the current term ends), but his feeling is that it will be O’Conner who steps down and not the ailing Chief Justice. Of course, Rehnquist can’t last forever at his age in declining health. The wistful conservative dreams of President Bush having a chance to appoint two Supremes may be closer to coming true.
If so, the confirmation circus we have seen over the last year or so will get even more bizarre. Already, Senate Democrats are polishing their empty rhetoric reactors for the staged public meltdown. Today it is reported that Senate Democrats have penned a letter to the White House demanding consultation on future judicial nominees…or else. Massachusetts’ gift to American government, Red…I mean, Ted…Kennedy offered an interesting proposal, one that is utterly unrelated to the Constitution or American traditions. "It doesn't take much to get our consent," Kennedy said. "All the president has to do is seek out his preferred non-ideological choices, ask us about them, and listen to our answers."
Such a magnanimous guy, that Red. All the President has to do to perform his Constitutional duty is refuse to exercise the sovereignty of his office, repudiate the mandate he received from the electorate and, as head of the majority party, bow down to the minority party that was recently spanked at the polls. Welcome to the Democrats’ world.