A real profile in courage
Posted on 01/20/2005 10:24:28 PM PST by kattracks
Supreme Court Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, frail from cancer treatments and speaking in a strong but raspy voice, braved the cold yesterday to swear in President Bush for a second term in what might be one of the ailing justice's last public appearances.
"He's a tough old bird," said Neil M. Richards, a former clerk for the chief justice.
[snip]
He walked slowly down the Capitol steps with the aid of a cane. He wore a black cap to protect his balding head and a gray scarf to help hide the tube that was inserted in the front of his neck to help him breathe.
[snip]
"He looked like the chief and sounded like the chief," said Mr. Richards, a law professor at Washington University in St. Louis. "That was such a great sign."[snip]
"You read these things in the papers, and there's all this speculation about how he would look and how he would sound," Mr. Richards said. "I thought he looked great. He was walking the way he normally walks. His voice was strong and clear. He looked fit, all things considered. It was a nice thing to see."
[snip]
Mr. Garnett said he thinks it unlikely that the chief justice would step down from the bench until the term of the court ends later this year.
[snip]
"If he thought he wasn't adding value to the court, I think he'd quit," he said.
Speculation in legal circles has Mr. Bush nominating conservative Justice Antonin Scalia to lead the court after the Rehnquist era ends. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, has said he would have no problem with Justice Scalia's taking over the chief's position.
(Excerpt) Read more at washtimes.com ...
Bless his heart. Prayers for him.
I half expected Renquist to say, "Mr. President, as my last official act..."
An inspiring act by the Chief Justice.
Conservatives owe him an enormous debt for his courageous, consistent, 33-year defense of the Constitution.
Indeed, for his entire public life, going back to his clerkship for Justice Robert Jackson in the early 1950s
and his service to candidate Barry Goldwater in 1964.
Rehnquist is every bit as much "one of us" as any person in public life today, and far more than most.
I've never seen the guy before; I see an old man talking to the President on the TV and I ask myself, "Is this the guy they say is barely able to speak? Bahhhh!"
Yes. Good picture.
Unfortunantly, Chief Justice Renquist has anaplastic thyroid carcinoma. The 1 year survival rate is 0% in essence. The chemotherapy and external beam radiation is known to be useless against this aggressive and unforgiving type of carcinoma. Mr. Renqueist is a great American.
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