I don't think it was to maintain power as much as it was to keep the liberals OUT of power. At least it was for me. Well, that and the war and also I had high hopes for at least one more successful SCOTUS pick. I was willing to stomach almost anything to make it 5 to 4 in our favor. No telling how much unconstitutional socialist crap we could've rolled back with a majority of constitutionalists on the court... regardless of which party put it in.
You are so right. The court is the bad gift that keeps on giving.
Kind of the same difference, but I understand what you mean. And yeah, I totally know what you mean about the SCOTUS. That's a big deal for me, too, since it lasts so long, and so yeah, you pick yer battles. But then again, the court is such a crap shoot, I don't feel like it's ever certain no matter who gets picked by whom. Granted, we all like our chances better with a GOP pick, but you never know. And anyway, we've still got the White House. As far as I am concerned, there's no reason why ANY bad justice should ever be nominated. Let them reject 20 picks in a row if they like. See how America reacts to that. As long as none of them is named Harriet Miers :-P It seems like Americans have lost faith in the handling of the Iraq war, justifiably or not. I think that probably was the kicker. And I think maybe we're not that serious about the terror threat anymore, and so here we are. That's life.
I wonder if there's anything we can do practically to increase the likelihood of a sane Constitutionalist as the next Supreme Court pick?
I'm not quite willing to roll over and play dead about it.
It's TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO IMPORTANT imho.