Court Appointment Circus

I think there's a whole bunch of people out there thrilled to have Justice Souter's close and personal friends announce that he's probably retiring at the end of this term. And I'm not talking about the usual cultural war soldiers. I'm talking about the whole industry that's going to be built around finding the replacement. It's Washington's own stimulus package.

Seriously. Even before an official announcement or Obama suggesting a nominee, the right wing has come out with their list of unacceptable candidates and the email bombs requesting money to fight these people.. They yell and scream and spend lots of money on this, but they have to know that there's not a lot that they can do. Maybe they get someone especially unattractive to them booted. Maybe they don't. But it gives them something to do.

On the other side, other groups are going to start lobbying on behalf of certain individuals. When all is said and done, 'we're going to end up with a very center/ slightly left of center probably female person sitting on the high court. She's going to have to go through a Senate confirmation where little of substance will be learned. (think John Robert's hearing) but a culture war circus will ensue.

It's all a pain, but in the end,if you get through all this stuff, it probably is the best job in government. Lifelong job security. Interesting issues.