Monday
June 20 2005
KENNEDY "RULES OUT" CLARENCE THOMAS FOR CHIEF JUSTICE:
Interesting comments from Senator Ted Kennedy on the
Supreme Court in this
little-noticed Bloomberg News article from Friday:
Kennedy,
73, said he believes that the consideration on Rehnquist's replacement
should be more than just "replacing one right-winger for
a right-winger." Still, the Senate debate on any Rehnquist
replacement would "clearly" be much different than
the discussion about a nominee who would tip the ideological
balance of the court.
"It's
clear it's going to have a significant impact" on the Senate
debate that "Rehnquist is leaving and not" one of
the court's moderates, the Massachusetts Democrat said in an
interview.
He
added that he thinks that two sitting justices, Antonin Scalia
and Clarence Thomas, "would be completely troublesome"
as nominees. He ruled out any possibility of Thomas
being selected, while acknowledging that Scalia might
be harder to defeat.
Yet
he suggested that Bush would tap a younger conservative jurist
who could serve for many years. "I do think it will be
a younger, more aggressive" nominee who "will be a
force on the court," Kennedy said.
Intriguingly,
Kennedy said that of the three oft-mentioned, younger appeals
court judges who are candidates for the chief justice slot -
J. Michael Luttig, John Roberts or Michael McConnell - one would
be acceptable. "I'm not going to get into which
one" because that would be "the kiss of death"
for that person, he said.
Get all the
latest news and commentary on the impending high court battle
at our new RCP Supreme Court Resource
page.
THE
DEAN DIVE: There's been a lot of talk about President
Bush's sagging poll numbers, but not so much talk about this:
There's no
trend on the Rasmussen poll but on the FOX poll Dean's favorable
rating is down ten points since the beginning of March and his
unfavorable rating is up nine.
THE
DUKE: The stench emanating from Randy "Duke"
Cunningham's real estate dealings is strong, foul stuff. Give
credit to Josh
Marshall for pushing this story on the web and to the
San Diego
Union-Tribune for its straight-up coverage of the blossoming
scandal.
Cunningham
continues to insist the deal was "aboveboard" and his
office issued a statement Friday saying the Congressman was "working
on a comprehensive statement that will address issues that have
been raised recently."
It's hard
to imagine an innocent explanation for Cunningham's cozy and profitable
relationship with defense contractor MZM Inc., but in the interest
of fairness we should wait to hear what he has to say. Meanwhile,
the natives back home are getting
restless.
QUOTE
OF THE DAY: "If it is Dick Durbin in trouble, then
something is wrong." Congresswoman
Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) showing just how clueless some on the
left can be. - T. Bevan 7:30 am Link
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