Supreme Court Craziness

Courtesy of Wiki Commons

We here at USDemocrazy can smell a good story a mile away. And it smells good. Right now… we’ve picked up a real strong scent…

A little while ago, oh say about a month, we reported on the impending retirement of Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens. We felt the tremors in the force then, and we can feel them again now. Washington is once again buzzing over Justice Stevens.  We’ve got your rundown…

First off, here’s the article last month that got everyone movin’ and groovin’ to the beat of retirement. Jeffrey Toobin at The New Yorker interviewed Stevens:

Stevens said, “I have a great admiration for [President Obama], and certainly think he’s capable of picking successfully, you know, doing a good job of filling vacancies.” He added, “You can say I will retire within the next three years. I’m sure of that.”

Some people have gotten a wee bit impatient with Justice Stevens. Adam Winkler at The Daily Beast says enough is enough:

Stevens has had a remarkable career and will long be remembered for his influence on a changing court. He should preserve his legacy by retiring now.

Eric Alterman is screaming NO to the idea of the middle ground appointee:

A strong liberal appointment to replace Justice Stevens, who’s expected to retire soon, would fire up the president’s troops ahead of a bruising election season. But Obama may seek middle ground once more by choosing Elena Kagan.

Now, begin with the reading of the FUTURE! Here are some people with lists of potential nominees:

Josh Gerstein at Politico,tell us what you know:

Sources close to the process say the president and his advisers are focused primarily on several potential nominees who were considered last year, including Seventh Circuit Appeals Court Judge Diane Wood, Solicitor General Elena Kagan, and D.C. Circuit Appeals Court Judge Merrick Garland.

Along with Kagan, Wood, and Garland, the AP says maybe:

If the president is casting a wider net, two Democratic governors – Jennifer Granholm of Michigan and Deval Patrick of Massachusetts – also could be considered.

And, Arlen Specter has thoughts on the situation as well: