I have to clear out some space in my mental attic before I move away from all the politickin’. Something has been bothering me for a little while:

I was having a conversation with someone a few weeks ago about the votes we would cast for president. My colleague said that one of the key reasons to vote for Bush was that he would almost certainly have the chance to pick several Supreme Court justices. This stuck with me long afterward, because it felt like the underlying assumption was that finally someone with some common sense would finally end the tyrannical reign of these robe-wearing lunatics and set things right. Finally, maybe, some stuff could get done.

In trying to put my finger on why that bugged me so much, I did a little research and quickly figured out what the problem was. I illustrated it while I was waiting for some software to install last night. Below is my graphic of the current Supreme Court and the political parties that made it what it is today:

As you can see from the handsome graphic, 7 of the 9 current Supreme Court justices –

seven out of the nine –

were appointed by Republican presidents. Appointed, in fact, by President Bush’s idols and/or parents in the party. The man who appointed the Chief Justice is the reason Arnold Schwarzennegger became a Republican.

So, these new justices that the president is going to finally, thank God, at last save the Constitution with in the next four years… what exactly are they planning to do that they cannot currently get going with a mere 7/9ths appointee majority? If 7/9ths won’t get it done, I’m not sure I want to know any longer what “it,” “done,” or “get” is. Are they worried that O’Connor’s going to be a holdout on that amendment legalizing eating the homeless? What sort of cases should I be looking forward to?

Or should I have been worried that a Kerry presidency might have replaced Rehnquist with a more liberal judge, perhaps a gay atheist made of stem cells, reducing the equation to a mere 6/9ths majority?

(Not that Bush will try to appoint anyone because of their consistent record of right-wing decisions. I know how much he hates judicial activism.)

Finally, we’ll sort out this prayer in the schools thing!
At last, we’ll put this abortion business to bed once and for all!

Sorry, fellas. I could be wrong (if you don’t believe me, you should see my voting record) but I think if it was gonna happen, it would have happened by now.