Dumbest Thing Ever Posted on the Internet

Not so fast. He leaves SCOTUS to run, gets trounced in the general election, Obama gets to pick someone less like Uncle Ruckus to replace him. It’s a win-win!

@matador1015: If Obama gets another pick it’ll be blocked by the GOP – it would tilt the court back towards sanity.

@blogenfreude: Like they blocked the last two?

I think the more telling thing will be what happens if a reactionary retires, and whether Obama nominates someone reasonable, or whether he chooses another reactionary to maintain “balance”. He has a nasty habit of misguided “bipartisanship”.

@nojo: With the last two they had nothing to play for.

@nojo: I don’t think Obama will blow this one. He cares about Constitutional law, and understands the stakes. Also, he’ll have won reelection.

The politics are interesting, assuming he gets to replace one of the conservative/caveman 5. The justices hate a short court, with many controversial cases unable to command the needed five vote majority. Important cases get delayed. Then, when the new Justice arrives, he/she has to be the deciding vote on a bunch of painfully tough cases. The Brethren covers this well.

This leads to growing pressure from the Court to get a Justice confirmed, which plays into Obama’s hand assuming he keeps nominating candidates with impeccable credentials (like Kagan and Sotomayor).

I see this as a pretty solid win for Obama, if he gets the appointment any time reasonably early in his term. Were it up to me, I’d pick Willie Fletcher from the Ninth Circuit.

This is a FABULOUS idea.

@Walking Still: He cares about Constitutional law

Tell that to Glenn Greenwald.

Sorry. Couldn’t resist.

@nojo: Caring about Constitutional law doesn’t mean that Constitutional law is all he cares about.

On Gitmo, he decided that he could only stand to lose so much political capital. One can argue that is/was a sign of weakness, and a clear indication the issue was mishandled – it could only have worked if presented as a fait accompli. If he didn’t care, he wouldn’t have tried.

On war powers generally, Presidents (especially lawyers like Lincoln and Nixon) tend to develop pretty expansive views about what the Constitution offers them in the way of C-in-C authority. There is more to Constitutional law than civil liberties.

Actually, he *would* pretty much be the GOP establishment’s dream candidate – he’s already such a RW sockpuppet that you can practically see the knuckles moving when he opens his mouth…

When us the Oscar open thread happening? Rooney Mara wore her nightgown and Kelly Osborne looks like Dame Edna….and I have no place to post it!

@Tommmcatt Be Fat, And That Be That: 8pm ET, but I can fire it up early if you wanna babysit.

@Tommmcatt Be Fat, And That Be That: Noj is proving he’s str8 by not starting the thread until the stupidceremony, when everyone knows the Red Carpet is the ONLY interesting part of the evening. Love that Viola Davis didn’t wear a wig. I think she looks fab. If Michelle Williams gets any more twee, my head will explode. Mara blew it, Chastain nailed it. (I’m following TLo’s twitter feed, which is even better than having teevee, as I don’t have to put up with Ryan Seacrest).

@nojo: I’ll sit in on it, sure!

@Mistress Cynica: Right? It’s practically over by 6:30.

@Mistress Cynica: Former Defamer God Mark Lisanti got off a couple good tweets about “Cruelty-Free Silkworms”.

@Tommmcatt Be Fat, And That Be That: The balcony is open.