Posted on 02/04/2017 11:00:33 AM PST by Kaslin
Yesterday, the legendary Andrew Malcolm published a piece here which speculates about other Supreme Court seats which may come up for grabs while Donald Trump is in office and what the fallout from such a turn of events might be. This is a grim game at the best of times because pondering an opening on the Supreme Court is frequently only thought of as meaning one thing, and it involves six people carrying a casket. But that’s not the reality in most cases. Many of us tend to think that accepting a seat on that court winds up turning into a life sentence that’s nearly as certain as the one Charles Manson received. However, as Zachary Goldfarb and Lydia DePillis wrote shortly after the death of Antonin Scalia, it’s actually a rarity. Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist died in office in 2005, but the last time it happened before that was in 1954. All the other ex-justices in the intervening half century left the building under their own power.
With that optimistic outlook in mind, it’s still worth considering whether any of the current crop are considering spending their golden years doing anything more relaxing. We would generally expect that sort of decision from the oldest members which means the Notorious RBG (83), Kennedy (80) or Breyer (78). The oldest conservative justice (Thomas) is still in his sixties. This has progressives and their liberal allies in the media in a panic at the moment. Two examples cropped up at the WaPo this week, with the first being a plaintive cry from Ruth Marcus for Anthony Kennedy to stick around until the last dog is hung or risk seeing his legacy go up in smoke.
Justice Kennedy, if you’re reading this, my message is simple: Please don’t retire. It could put your legacy at risk; even more, it would be terrible for the country at a moment that demands healing, not another bitter fight ripping at the seams of national unity.
It’s natural, of course, that stepping down would be on your mind. At 80, you are the court’s longest-serving justice — 29 years this month. Appointed by a Republican president, you might decide that a Republican president should have the chance to name your successor.
Please don’t.
That one is actually fairly tame when compared to a stunning offer made by Rachel Manteuffel to Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Rather than appealing to the tiny cancer survivor’s better angels in terms of retirement, Manteuffel cuts straight to the chase and lets Ginsburg know that she’s ready to go under the knife and donate her bodily organs if it will keep RBG on the bench until Trump is gone.
I just wanted you to know that I admire you very much and have some tokens of my esteem that you might enjoy. Such as blood. If you have any need for blood, you can have the eight or so units of A-positive that are right here in my body. There’s also a gently used liver in here, lobes of it just lying around if you need them…
My kidneys function well. I have two. Either one is yours for the taking. Both, if need be. ..
I have scads of nerves that you can have. Just take them. My skin would graft onto you beautifully. Bones, stem cells, a whole eyeball I don’t need, feet of intestines, feet. Just a ridiculous amount of health, way more than should rightly belong to someone with my standing in the world. It is not just. And I know you like justice…
I am somewhat bigger than you are, so my heart might not be a perfect fit. Have it cut to size.
I realize that Manteuffel’s essay is ostensibly written tongue in cheek, but these are not the thoughts of a rational person. That last line in particular about having her heart “cut to size” summons up images of an Aztec high priest plunging an obsidian blade into the chest cavity of a sacrificial captive on an ancient pyramid. This isn’t comedy… it’s a desperate plea from the truly unhinged, convinced that a monster (Trump) has risen up from the depths of Mordor to take over the world and there are no hobbits with magic rings of power to be found anywhere. It is, in short, thinly disguised religious fervor.
I suppose that’s understandable to a certain degree. Younger political activists are facing the very real possibility of witnessing something which has almost never happened in their adult lifetime… the swing of a SCOTUS seat from the far left to the far right. Kagan and Sotomayor replaced Stevens and Souter respectively… both were reliably liberal. (Souter was appointed by Bush 41, but wound up voting almost exclusively with the liberal block.) Roberts replaced Rehnquist, a Nixon appointee who was considered a conservative federalist. Breyer replaced Harry Blackmun who was another Nixon appointee but went on to become one of the most liberal justices in the modern era, eventually authoring Roe v. Wade. And RBG (appointed almost a quarter century ago) replaced Byron White, a JFK appointee. In fact it could be argued that the only real ideological shift of note which younger liberals have witnessed was Alito replacing Sandra Day O’Connor. Even there, O’Connor was viewed as more of a swing vote and was a Regan appointee.
Now, the three members most likely to retire (or, God forbid, expire) are the current swing vote and two of the most reliable liberals on the court. If one of them is replaced by someone on Trump’s current list of possible nominees it will be a seismic shift to the Right which liberals are simply not prepared to witness. And that shift would most likely continue to resonate until the current crop of liberal protesters are ready to collect Social Security. (Assuming the program lives that long without going broke.)
With all that in mind, perhaps Manteuffel’s offer won’t bee seen as such a crazy bargain after all. And I’m taking her at her word that she has a simply lovely liver to offer. Lord only knows that nobody would want mine.
Well, I don’t wish them ill health. I just want them to enjoy a happy retirement.
That must make me demonic I suppose.
Congratulations Jazz, you figured out the secret to Trumps victory.
To whom? Gaia? St. Algore?
I dont care. One lib judge vs the health of the entire nation. Guess which one I’m rooting for?
And the death of presidents.
Or is what we are seeing, that these liberals are unhinged, part of the lunatic fringe???
Four appointees from The Trump List would suit me fine.
Kennedy may retire. Not sure about the two liberals.
Don’t really care how they get off list.
Satan doesn’t answer prayers.
Now let’s answer the question as to whether it does any good for someone who is not a Christian to pray to God and expect Him to hear and answer their prayers. The Bible clearly says that God will not answer prayer requests of those who are not saved nor will He even listen to their prayers (John 9:31). Believers have had their sins forgiven but those who are not Christian are separated from God by their sin (Isaiah 59:2). I Peter 3:12 plainly says that God will hear a believer’s prayer but not those of the unsaved: “For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
Proverbs 1:26-29 speaks to everyone who does not believe in Him and gives a warning for those who don’t that “…when disaster strikes you; I will mock when calamity overtakes you— when calamity overtakes you like a storm, when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind, when distress and trouble overwhelm you. Then they will call to me but I will not answer; they will look for me but will not find me, since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the LORD.”
Read more: http://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/does-god-answer-the-prayers-of-the-unsaved-or-unbelievers/#ixzz4XkIuIyCz
I’ll take their departure in any form it comes. They are destructive to the best nation on Earth. In fact the best Nation in the history of mankind. They are nothing less than a retrograde force to life on Earth itself .
How nice of the libs to find religion!
I never said he was.
I’m glad he understands why Trump won the electorate and decided to pen it now.
This reminds me of the high increase of church attendance and at our Jewish synagogue starting the weekend after 9/11.
That lasted a few weeks, and those new church attendees stopped coming.
Our church ended up with one new 911 attendee, a woman,who became an active member. She is still active. Her husband stopped coming and refers to his wife’s bible study group as the Bible Broads! Which they call themselves in private and among friends.
Liberals finding religion, LOL.
Reminds me of a puff piece during the campaign about Hillary’s religion. The puff piece article described her Methodist faith as being so vital to who she is and how she brings a strong faith to her work, yadda, yadda, yadda.
What horse blank.
Hillary’s”bible” is “Rules For Radicals” by Saul Alinsky. And the only “diety” of any kind she recognizes is Saul Alinsky himself.
I know off topic, but its annoying to hear how pious some radical liberal types supposedly are.
Perhaps they should consider President Thomas Jefferson's views on such actions by a President in his final months:
Are not these strong statements on the subject from the mind of the genius who authored the nation's Declaration of Independence pertinent to current discussions?"I have thought it right to take no part myself in proposing measures, the execution of which will devolve on my successor. I am therefore chiefly an unmeddling listener to what others say. On the same ground, I shall make no new appointments which can be deferred... thinking it fair to leave to my successor to select the agents for his own administration." --Thomas Jefferson to George Logan, 1808. ME 12:219
"I should not feel justified in directing measures which those who are to execute them would disapprove." --Thomas Jefferson to Levi Lincoln, 1808. ME 12:195
"[My predecessor in the office of the President made several] last appointments to office... [which] were among my most ardent political enemies, from whom no faithful cooperation could ever be expected, and laid me under the embarrassment of acting through men whose views were to defeat mine, or to encounter the odium of putting others in their places. It seems but common justice to leave a successor free to act by instruments of his own choice." --Thomas Jefferson to Abigail Adams, 1804. ME 11:29
"It would be with extreme reluctance that, so near the time of my own retirement, I should proceed to name any high officer, especially one who must be of the intimate councils of my successor, and who ought of course to be in his unreserved confidence." --Thomas Jefferson to Henry Dearborn, 1808. ME 12:64
"It is but common decency to leave to my successor the moulding of his own business." --Thomas Jefferson to William Short, 1793. ME 9:12
They’ve been worshipping Satan for eons.
Anyone remember that gay video where you’re supposed to find the ghost? You stare at a quiet screen and then suddenly an ugly monster jumps up screaming. I’m tempted to send a link of that video to Ginsburg.
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