Who will the newest SUPREME COURT Justice? What is the Strategy?

[Outlaw]

Originally Posted by MsDemeanor

When even I'm thinking "would we have this conversation about a single man appointed to the bench", something is seriously wrong.

Similar: The speculation around the appointment of David Souter, a single man.

Dissimilar: The discussion of stance, and not the political one...Softball Photo

[MsDemeanor]

TPM video about the softball pic [nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSyOEnerVQc&feature=player_embedded"]YouTube- Cable News Wonders: If A Judicial Nominee Plays Softball, Does That Make Her Gay?[/nomedia]

[AtLast]

Simply for the hell of it, what are some of the attributes people see as important for a Supreme Court justice?

Sure, I have my own political stances, but I am thinking about things like temperament and character as well as what kind of class background someone has. I know I have a bias toward justices having some semblance to more working class experiences. Or, middle-class that reflects not being born into there being no doubt that one will have the opportunity for higher education, let alone being able to go to Ivy schools.

When I think of myself in terms of things like temperament- I would have to say that I would not vote to confirm me! I would not be able to look at constitutional matters without getting fired-up about certain things. So, when I try to appraise these nominees, I do think about this. And of course, I think about political ideologies. Then there is just one’s ability to think critically and apply abstract reasoning.

What say you all? Boot me in the butt, I don’t care, I want to view the hearings with some new stuff to think about.

[Soon]

Bill Maher: Why Can't Liberals Get A Liberal On Supreme Court? (VIDEO)

good discussion about atheism/religion too

[AtLast]

Originally Posted by MsDemeanor

TPM video about the softball pic YouTube- Cable News Wonders: If A Judicial Nominee Plays Softball, Does That Make Her Gay?

GeezUsFuckingchrist!

[Soon]

Sex Lives of Supreme Court Justices

By MICHAEL KINSLEY on May 18, 2010 9:28am

Now that the sex lives of Supreme Court justices have become grist for commentators, we are finally free to discuss a question formerly only whispered about in the shadows: Why does Justice Antonin Scalia, by common consent the leading intellectual force on the Court, have nine children? Is this normal? Or should I say "normal," as some people choose to define it? Can he represent the views of ordinary Americans when he practices such a minority lifestyle? After all, having nine children is far more unusual in this country than, say, being a lesbian.

Let me be clear: the issue is not the fact that Scalia has chosen to have nine children. That is his personal business. The question is whether he is an extremist advocate of the so-called "Nine Children Agenda." Can he deal open-mindedly with children’s issues when he has so many himself? Can he persuade his children to recuse themselves when appropriate (or, in the vernacular, "Just shut up, will you? I’m trying to write an opinion here. Sweetheart, could you please come and take him…stop climbing up my leg…watch it with that glass of water, buddy…no, that’s some condemned prisoner’s brief that daddy has to reject, so don’t …would somebody please take this kid…LOOK OUT for the… Jesus H. Christ, how am I supposed to get any work done"?).

Speculation is already rampant about why Scalia chose nine children over a more conventional lifestyle. Is he a sex maniac? That suspicion naturally arises. But perhaps once he started, he just never got around to stopping. Or maybe he just likes children. In recent days, Scalia’s friends have rushed to his defense, going out of their way to portray him as a model of sexual restraint. "Every Friday a bunch of us used to go down to this bar to pick up women," one of his college roommates recalls. "We’d always ask Nino if he wanted to join us, but he always said he was too busy studying. Frankly, we thought he was gay."

[Soon]

[AtLast]

Might be jumping the gun- but it seems to me that Obama will have another SC nomination fairly soon. Bader Ginsburg will probably leave the court within in his first term as well. What a powerful woman, indeed! ARGH... the mid-term elections are critical here, I think. My hope is that if Obama has this chance again, a more progressive thinking Justice would be terrific. With the political picture as it is...... not betting on it!

[Soon]