(no subject)

[pat]

A thought just occurred to me:

I wonder if Scalia is really annoyed at Bush? I mean, why wouldn't he be? Given their ideological brotherhood, one might have expected Bush to nominate Scalia as CJ, then Roberts and one other as associates. Unless Scalia did not *want* the job, which is, I suppose, always possible. Of course, that would have meant three confirmation hearings rather than just two.... and all that added work and everything.

Comments

[wcg.livejournal.com]

I think your last sentence is the telling one. GWB knows it's going to be hard for any of his candidates to be confirmed, so he's minimizing the difficulties. Roberts was already in the pipeline.

Whether or not Scalia is peeved, I couldn't begin to guess. This way he can continue to be nasty and insulting to his colleague justices. As CJ he'd have to assume leadership and set a good example.

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

Making Roberts CJ would also mean that the court stays full until O'Connor (who's probably damning Bush right now) leaves, as she's said she won't leave until there's a replacement.

[cheshyre]

Heh. Good thought. Forgot about that one.

Frankly, I liked the idea of talking O'Connor into staying an extra half-term (thru January) and making HER interim Chief Justice until Bush has time to get two nominees thru the process. I don't think anyone would object to confirming her as chief justice, gets everyone some brownie points for diversity, and buys them all some time.