Choosing between Scalito and Luttig is like choosing your favorite eye. I like both. Can we have Souter step aside so that both could get in, please?
No way! I don't want souter to step aside.
I want my lost liberty hotel dammit!
:-)
I want Steven Breyer to step aside. That guy has problems. But Souter needs to stay on until our hotel is built. Complete with Atlas Shrugged in the drawers.(instead of the bible)
Alito is not like Scalia. Every legal scholar that knows him has said he isn't a movement conservative. He is very rigid in his stare decisis belief. He will not overturn any liberal precedent given to us in the last several decades.
We need a movement conservative/strict constructionist/originalist type. Alito is an incrementalist like Roberts.
The difference between Luttig and Alito is the difference between them voting with Scalia and Thomas on precedent cases or voting with the liberal bloc.
We need Luttig if we want to move the court to the right.
Bush will give in like he did with Roberts and pick Alito. The dems have said they won't block Alito. They know his philosophy. Bush will be praised but in reality it will be a capitulation to avoid a fight with a true movement conservative like Luttig.
We will learn a lot about Bush administration in the next few days. Picking Luttig would say bring it on dems. Picking Alito would be giving. I predict the talking head republicans will praise Alito after he is picked like they did Roberts but neither of them will vote with Scalia and Thomas on issues we really care about moving the court to the right.
Souter will be around until he is 90.
Perhaps Souter's "lifestyle" will catch up with him.