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Monday, May 4, 2009

Obama To Name Supreme Court Nominee By Friday?

Posted by on Mon, May 4, 2009 at 5:45 PM

And if he's serious about changing the tone in Washington he'll nominate Harriet Miers.

 

Comments (18) RSS

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emma's bee 1
A sober suggestion. Why not Sarah Palin? Or Miss California? Or Dick Cheney (would be fun to have another chance to pick next year)?
Posted by emma's bee on May 4, 2009 at 6:16 PM
konstantConsumer 2
I love Orrin Hatch's insane view that he can influence who Obama picks: "Sure I’d like him to chat with me, because I think I could save him a lot of pain." He can make it a headache, but he can't stop anything.
Posted by konstantConsumer http://www.facebook.com/abeaugh on May 4, 2009 at 6:46 PM
3
Prepare to shit in your pants, Dan.
Posted by THE WHINING BEGINS IN ...3...2...1... on May 4, 2009 at 6:47 PM
4
Good call, Dan
Posted by Luckier on May 4, 2009 at 7:10 PM
mackro 5
Judith Sheindlin, absolutely
Posted by mackro http://mackro.blogspot.com on May 4, 2009 at 7:23 PM
Loveschild 6
Whoever he picks has to be someone who's not an ideologue or with a record of judicial extremism, otherwise the President runs the risk of upsetting important base voters of his who do not fall on any end of the political spectrum. I've had him in my prayers ever since I knew of this decision that he had to make and I know he will be guided to choose someone who reflects his same non extremist and conciliatory character. Our President has shown good thinking in all his decisions so far and I believe that the Almighty will be guiding him with this one also.
Posted by Loveschild http://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/articles/responding_to_haiti_earthquake/ on May 4, 2009 at 7:33 PM
Reverse Polarity 7
Nice try, Loveschild.

First, although it makes a lot of difference to some of use court-watching nerds, who a president nominates for Supreme Court Justices has very little actual effect on typical voters.

Second, Souter has been a relatively liberal justice. In order to even maintain the current balance of the court, Obama must nominate an equally liberal candidate to replace him. If he were to nominate a centrist, it would shift the Supreme Court even farther to the right than it is now. The only way that Obama would be able to shift the court is if a conservative justice retires/dies, and Obama replaces him with a liberal.
Posted by Reverse Polarity on May 4, 2009 at 7:39 PM
gayatheist 8
Is that the out lesbian that they were talking about on the Advocate.
Posted by gayatheist http://www.thegayatheist.com/ on May 4, 2009 at 7:52 PM
Fifty-Two-Eighty 9
Anita Hill would be kind of an interesting choice. Heh heh.
Posted by Fifty-Two-Eighty http://www.nra.org on May 4, 2009 at 7:57 PM
Will in Seattle 10
Dan, that is the worst idea ever.

There are hundreds of highly qualified women who could do a far better job on the US Supreme Court than most of the current court.
Posted by Will in Seattle http://www.facebook.com/WillSeattle on May 4, 2009 at 8:11 PM
Loveschild 11
Sorry to burst your bubble, Reverse Polarity. But thankfully our President is a centrist unlike you and I have a feeling that he will end up choosing someone more on the lines of a Sandra Day O'Connor than another Ginsburg. Because in the end the court has to reflect the collective population and our nation is not one of libertine (gay marriage) nor of right-wing (racist) extremes but of pragmatist.
Posted by Loveschild http://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/articles/responding_to_haiti_earthquake/ on May 4, 2009 at 8:16 PM
12
Souter is a centrist. The right is defining him as a liberal. Don't buy into the right wing frame.
Posted by PC on May 4, 2009 at 9:13 PM
13
Slate Magazine has a pretty cool feature where they list 20 or so top names being bandied about. You can vote on which one you think should be the choice. They provide Wikipedia links so you can read up a little.

They have plenty of good choices listed, and I would love to pick more than one, just as I hope Obama gets to pick more than one, but of the ones they listed I went with Janet Napolitano. I think it is a good idea for the Supreme Court to go back to the tradition of drawing from outside the bench. I also think that the Justices with good people and political skills tend to be more successful. Also, she is 51.
Posted by Learned Hand on May 5, 2009 at 12:30 AM
14
The Chief Justice of Georgia is perfect --- black woman, known jurist, not from the federal bench

Ginsberg and John Paul Stevens will retire next - nest session or earlier.

The court WILL shift under Obama, but, not as much as is needed by simple retirement.

Who on the right side -- the court majority -- might die is the question of the day? As a rule these folks have great health care, big salaries, tons of clerks and live LONG.

Posted by Rex on May 5, 2009 at 1:05 AM
pissy mcslogbot 15
And if he's really serious about changing the tone in Washington he'll nominate Perez Hilton or maybe Paula Abdul.
Posted by pissy mcslogbot on May 5, 2009 at 2:49 AM
16
Better idea. Pack the court ala FDR.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judiciary_R…
Drown out Scalia and the other "originalist" douchebags.
Posted by druidfairies on May 5, 2009 at 3:44 AM
17
If Obama is REALLY serious about changing the tone in DC he'll nominate Dan Savage.

Credentials:
Lots of experience judging people
diversity candidate (gay)
Young
Liberal as all get out
Posted by guy on May 5, 2009 at 6:17 AM
18
@13: Napolitano would be perfect to replace Souter. Let's keep the gay slot on the Court!
Posted by BABH on May 5, 2009 at 9:09 AM

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