ConfirmThem

Did this AP writer meant to write "June"? Reference is made to the new Dem. senator Specter. BTW, I had thought the announcment was coming by the Fri. of the week it was announced Souter was retiring. But it doesn't really matter when the person is nominated since the Dems will guide it through and have the person sworn in before the first Monday of October.

From AP/Yahoo
An announcement is not expected this week but will likely come in May. Gibbs said Tuesday that the White House would prefer to have the confirmation wrapped up before the Senate's August break, which would leave June and July for reviewing the candidate, hearings and voting.

Amendments are done for improvement. For a decision concerning the public, anyone in a position shall not expect that everybody will become passive. Be ready for possible violent reactions. Learning to accept some suggestions constructively is advisable. With all news shows and newspapers repeatedly forecasting gloom and general doom on the horizon, it might be time for a get away. A good get away can do you loads of good. Recharge the batteries, unwind, get out of the office and relax for a bit. A personal loan for a vacation, although you do have to pay it back, could be a worthy investment. Or maybe you made a little money on a stock exchange. (Not many can claim that these days.) We are in a recession, so you obviously have to bear a little common sense in mind. That said, if you aren't in debt consolidation, it might be time for a get away.

Prolly deserves it's own thread:

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/05/11/1928014.aspx

"Diane Wood of the 7th Circuit, Solicitor General Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor of the 2nd Circuit, Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Merrick Garland of the DC Circuit Court of Appeals"

CNN substitutes out Garland for: "California Supreme Court Justice Carlos Moreno. The 60-year-old..."

Too old IMO. Heck, the first list is from Monday, the CNN from Wednesday, thought ya'll'd have been all over it. ;)

STEVENS, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which SCALIA, J., joined.

wood, to old and to much of a track record

sotomayer, not enough intellectual heft, doesnt get along with others

garland, male

moreno, male and too old

granholm and napolitano, to much of a track record as politicians and potentially polarizing as politicians

kagan, powerful intellect, reputation for reaching out to conservatives, female, lesbian but not in your face, considered to moderate by some libs, not from judicial ranks, already vetted and confirmed recently, reputation for being liberal but pragmatic, some conservative support, close with and taught with Obama, on many of these points how Obama views himself

will pass with around 65 votes i would guess

What if the court were to really look like the american people by percentage?

Gender: need at least 3 more women

Ethnic: 6 european background, 1 african american, 1 hispanic, 1 other or one of 3 already mentioned. Hispanics would be the group most under represented.

Religious Background: America is about 25 catholic, 25 evangelical protestant, 25 mainline and other protestant, 25 everything else. Evangelical protestants have no representatives.

Using these measures, one of the groups most under represented on the Court are evangelical protestants who have no one on the court and have not had anyone for almost 100 years (you could count Justice Thomas when he was first on the court, but of course, no longer)

I do not think one should play these sort of numbers games in picking someone, but if you do, evangelical protestants have the right to demand their diversity of experience be represented. It would seem 25 % the population has been largely ignored.

1. Kagan just started a new job.
2. Wood also knows Obama from his Chicago days.
3. Wood will probably be too old later in this term, and probably less confirmable than today.

I guess it depends whether he wants to nominate a bunch of women, or just 1, and consider male nominees for any subsequent vacancies.

Of course, Ginsberg is again crying about some pregnancy discrimination case, before pregnancy discrimination was illegal....does she ever vote against a female plaintiff?

[Linked at Drudge. If she's the one, I don't know whether to laugh or cry. To rejoice with the people of Michigan or weep for the people of America.]

Granholm to meet at White House on fuel standards
By TODD SPANGLER and JUSTIN HYDE • FREE PRESS WASHINGTON STAFF • May 18, 2009

Updated at 1:24 p.m.
WASHINGTON — Gov. Jennifer Granholm will be at the White House Tuesday for a meeting on setting a national fuel standard for automobiles, according to a person familiar with the meeting who was not authorized to speak publicly about it.

Word of the meeting came as Politico.com reported on its Web site that President Barack Obama planned to announce his plans for a new national fuel economy standard Tuesday.

According to Politico, the administration plans to bring together auto companies, state governments, the Environmental Protection Agency and the federal Transportation Department for the talks.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was also expected to attend.

A senior administration official who would not comment on the topic of the meeting said earlier today that Granholm would be coming to the White House on Tuesday. The Associated Press reported last week that Granholm is on Obama’s short list to fill a vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court but the official – who wouldn’t be identified because the meeting and its topic had not yet been made public – said the meeting was unrelated to the Supreme Court.

Earlier this year, Obama ordered officials to rework proposed fuel standards for model years 2012 to 2016. Meanwhile, the EPA is reviewing whether California and other states should receive a waiver to set their own standards.

...for Wardlaw or Sears Ward. Each might possibly be a slight improvement over Souter and hard to see how they could be worse. Ward seems like a JRB type how went the other way; some good links on Red State about her. The kossers HATE Wardlaw, so that's cautiously optimistic. I've heard some OK things about Rawlinson, too.

But Wood, Soto & Granholm are so obvious it's hard to see how Barry doesn't go there. Granholm, talk about the homeless woman's Earl Warren. Make Fortas look like Solomon.

STEVENS, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which SCALIA, J., joined.

As a Georgian, I not a fan of the Hper Leftisit Sears Wards

She has been a disaster on the Georgia Supreme Court

Georgia already has claim to the worse President in U.S History(Jimmy Carter) we do not need another disaster on the Supreme Court

Might one day Obama sit on the court, following Taft's path, of serving on the Supreme Court after being president? One good that would come from that - Taft only served 4 years in the White House!

Skippy1,
While I share your hope in a single term for the current president, I doubt he'd be interested in a Supreme Court position. Presidents tend to enjoy the executive nature of the position and continue with that outlook aftere they've left office.

I have some more thoughts on the subject, but I'd rather not share them in this forum.
Classic

I saw on the crawl line at CNN that some Democrats are urging the president to select Sen. Salazar of Colorado as his SCOTUS nominee. He was Atty Genl of Colo before he became senator.

Any thoughts? It would probably ease the confirmation--senatorial courtesy and all that. How liberal would he be? Probably not as radical as most of the names currently being bandied about.

As to Salazar, didn't he show his stripes early on? Maybe my memory is faulty, but I thought when he first campaigned he decried filibusters of judicial nominees, then defended their use as soon as he got elected.

Sotomayor, Wood, Kagan, or Napolitano

Plenty of whining in the article from lefties that these four either aren't liberal enough or aren't outspoken enough.

Tom Goldstein of SCOTUSblog says a nominee will be announced at 10AM (9AM Central).

http://www.scotusblog.com/wp/the-dynamic-of-the-nomination-of-sonia-soto...

If he's wrong, that'll really whack his credibility. He also says it's Sotomayor, which would be in keeping with Obama's comments over the weekend about wanting someone with a personal story (comments that would seem to disqualify Kagan and also Napolitano). We shall see.....

But didn't she turn 55 yesterday? (Yeah I know it's a nit.)

DOH!

Maybe worth a new thread??