By Douglas V. Gibbs
U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens is finally hanging it up. He is 90 years old, has served on the bench for 34 years, and is quickly realizing that Obama will probably lose in 2012. The Republicans are poised to take both the House and the Senate in November. John Paul Stevens knows that his life is around the midnight hour, as could be the Democrat Party's. As a liberal, he has been watching as conservatism lights a fire beneath the GOP, and he does not like it. The reality to Stevens, I think, is that should he die after November, and especially should he die after 2012, it could result in his replacement being less liberal, and more of a constructionist - and with the Left, their ideology comes before everything - therefore, to eliminate the possibility of being replaced with someone not as hard left as he, Stevens has chosen to step down at the end of this term, and retire.
The decision by Justice Stevens gives Barack Obama an opportunity to make back to back Supreme Court appointments during the first two years of his presidency - and ensure that Obama has the opportunity to reach even further into his leftist pool of candidates so that he may continue to reshape America into his own radically hard left image.
Clearly, President Obama will name a nominee who embraces an extremely liberal judicial philosophy, while being someone young enough that they will serve upwards to 40 years - meaning the next Justice will have a long-term impact on the judiciary, playing a role as a significant determining factor in decisions for decades to come.
The Left is concerned that the Republicans will try to delay Obama's appointment as much as possible, with the goal of delaying the appointment until after the pivotal November elections. The Left fears that the GOP will accept nothing less than a conservative justice, while the Democrats desire to place a Leftist Judge on the bench.
The role of judges ought not be political. Their job is to rule on cases that the federal government is authorized by the U.S. Constitution to see. If the case does not fall within federal authority, they are not to see the case. Listening to the Democrat's scramble for a liberal judge that echoes the belief that the Constitution is a fluid document leads one to ask, "Whatever happened to the Constitution, and the judiciary's job of applying the Constitution while ruling on cases, and not making law as seems to be their tendency? Whatever happened to determining who the best nominee for the Supreme Court is based on their view of the Constitution so that they may understand the role of The Court, which does not include changing the Constitution with implied law and precedent? The role of the judges should not be one of politics, but the rule of law.
Mr. Obama, according to the New York Times, is considering about ten names as possible candidates to be Stevens' replacement. The $64,000 question is, will Obama nominate a hard left socialist that mirrors his own views of creating an authoritarian system of government that dictates to the people their choices with programs like the disastrous health care legislation recently passed, or will he go with a safer choice in the hopes that the less liberal candidate will be confirmed before the November elections?
Whomever Obama chooses, should the nominee be appointed, the judge will vastly alter the political landscape of the Supreme Court that may come in play soon considering the numerous legal challenges against Obama's recently passed health care legislation.
Obama vowed to "move quickly" in the hopes of looking efficient, while in reality he realizes he must move quickly before the political atmosphere becomes such that the conservative right dominates the political landscape and makes it even more difficult to appoint a hard left nominee to The Court.
The ultimate question comes down to whether Obama will choose a candidate for the Supreme Court that more closely fits his radical image, or searches out someone closer to the center so that he can placate the Republicans just enough to get a bunch of them to vote for his nominee during confirmation.
-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary
Stevens’s Retirement Is Political Test for Obama - New York Times
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