I understand and appreciate what they did, I just don't think or know that SCOTUS had any choice.
What insider info do you have that says O'Connor was the saviour or leader?
She voted with the majority in both the 5-4 and 7-2 decisions and I believe she wrote one of the majority opinions. I believe that Ann Coulter also publicly noted that Justice O'Connor played a pivotal role in smacking down the Florida Supremes based on her experience in the Arizona legislature.
Perhaps everything Justice O'Connor said in this speech is absurd. I don't know. I do know that I don't trust Nina Totenberg to give us even a fraction of the truth. I also know that there are much worse justices sitting on the bench, specifically Souter, Stevens, Ginsberg, and Breyer.
O'Connor might not have been Scalia, but she was better than most justices on most issues.