[hchutch]

If I were Bush, I'd go for a two-fer if Rhenquist were to retire:

1. Thomas as Chief Justice.
2. Emilio Garza from the 5th Circuit to be the new associate Justice.

The next to go would be O'Connor or Stevens. My bet is Stevens. O'Connor's locked in from 2004 due to some flap that occured during the 2000 election.

Alberto Gonzales would represent an improvement over Stevens by a long shot.

O'Connor? Replace her with either Posner from the 7th Circuit, or Luttig - who's got a good rep fromt he 4th Circuit.

Ginsberg might also go due to health problems. For that, I'll go with another Hispanic, this time Miguel Estrada.

So, hchutch's SCOTUS by the fall of 2005 (assuming purists do not sink Bush Jr. in 2004):

CJ Thomas
Scalia
Kennedy
Souter
Breyer
Garza
Gonzales
Luttig
Estrada

Now, how does that court sound?

[Bubba_Leroy]

Looks good to me. If you can figure out a way to replace Kennedy, Souter and Breyer I'll like it even better.