U.S. Chief Justice Rehnquist dead at 80 (Kennedy demands that Roberts hearing being postponed)

Rehnquist's death raised the possibility the hearings on Roberts' nomination could be postponed and gave Bush the opportunity of nominating Roberts as chief justice, a possibility administration officials have talked about in the event Rehnquist died.

Sen. Edward Kennedy (news, bio, voting record), a Massachusetts Democrat, said the consideration of successors to Rehnquist and O'Connor should be held off to allow the Bush administration and Congress to focus on the Katrina disaster.

"We should proceed carefully and appropriately in filling these important vacancies. With Justice O'Connor committing to stay until her replacement is named, we can and should remain focused first on protecting our citizens who need help the most," Kennedy said.

Frist said he would discuss with Senate Judiciary Committee leaders whether the Roberts' hearings should be postponed due to the death of Rehnquist.

To fill a second opening on the court, Bush could return to the list of candidates he considered before nominating Roberts to replace O'Connor.

Among the possible candidates are U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and appeals court Judge J. Michael Luttig. Bush could also elevate a current member of the court such as Justice Antonin Scalia or Justice Clarence Thomas.

Clarence Thomas is unqualified, really, for the spot he holds. His opinions never address caselaw, but are merely ideologically based opinions better suited for an op-ed page. He is not going to be Chief Justice. To nominate him as such would be nothing more than pathetic race-mongering.

Now, Scalia, on the other hand, would be an ideal chief justice. Most intellectually honest lawyers when confronted with a Scalia opinion must concede that, while they might not agree with Scalia, he makes a compelling argument. The same cannot be said of Clarence Thomas.

He thinks he is calling the shots for the Whitehouse.

Don't use the word "shots" in conjunction with Kennedys.

Too open to flamewars.

Full Disclosure: Go ahead and use the word "splash" all you want, though.

we can and should remain focused first on protecting our citizens who need help the most," Kennedy said.

So I am going right out and dive for Mary Jo.,,,,,,,

I'd love for someone in the GOP to have the 'nads to say this:

"I'm today calling for Senator Kennedy to resign his seat on the Senate Judiciary Committee until such time as a thorough Senate investigation of the death of Mary Jo Kopechne is completed. Questions continue to linger about Senator Kennedy's complicity in this young woman's death. The Massachusetts investigation into the incident back in 1969 could well have been tainted by party politics in a state where the Kennedy name, and the Kennedy wealth, were used to maximum advantage. It raises serious issues of equal protection of the laws that such a shocking breach of state statutes regarding leaving the scene of an accident were taken so lightly. Would a truck driver or factory worker have gotten off so easily in the same circumstance? In recent years, many murder cases from the civil rights era have been reopened. It is time for the Senate to reopen the Chappaquddick case as a civil rights issue. Was Senator Kennedy's callous abandonment of Miss Kopechne due to hostility toward her gender? Is there evidence of emotional and psychological abuse of women in Senator Kennedy's background? This issue needs to be thoroughly investigated. Until such time, Senator Kennedy needs to withdraw from the Judiciary Committee, where the appearance of impropriety taints any role he might play there."

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