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You are here: Home / Politics / Rehnquist

Rehnquist

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Earlier this morning on IMUS (around 6:45 am), Mike Barnicle was on and during a discussion of Rehnquist, Barnicle mentioned, almost in passing, that Rehnquist HATES the current Bush and is going to do everything he can to outlive the Presidency.

Has anyone else heard this angle?

*** Update ***

The more I think about this, the less I buy it. I am betting Rehnquist thinks that it will be easier to confirm two conservative judges if it is done one at a time. If he were to retire right now, that would give the moderates an excuse to make a deal with Democrats, and only one conservative would get through.

Barnicle is probably just talking out his A$$. Or maybe he isn’t, and Rehnquist really does hate Bush. Who knows? Unfortunately, Rehnquist is in such poor health and generally does not strike me as the type to write a tell-all after he finally does retire.

Reader Interactions

11Comments

  2. 2.

    srv

    Only one Justice has ever attended any of his State of the Union Addresses (try finding that reported by the MSM). Read Scalia’s Rumsfeld vs Padilla dissent and tell me he’s happy. You don’t make friends on the SCOTUS by dumping on the courts and judicial review wherever you can. Even if you’re Rehnquist.

  3. 3.

    Mr Furious

    There’s this [NY Times via a link at Kos]:

    Rehnquist Says He’ll Stay on Supreme Court

    By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
    July 14, 2005 | 9:22 p.m. ET

    WASHINGTON (AP) — Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, denying rumors of his retirement, said Thursday he will continue heading the court as long his health permits. ”I’m not about to announce my retirement,” he said in a statement obtained by The Associated Press.

    ”I want to put to rest the speculation and unfounded rumors of my imminent retirement,” said Rehnquist, 80, and ailing with thyroid cancer. ”I am not about to announce my retirement. I will continue to perform my duties as chief justice as long as my health permits.”

    […]

    Medical experts initially speculated that Rehnquist probably had the deadly anaplastic form of thyroid cancer, based on the chemotherapy-radiation treatment. But now that seems less likely.

    ”The prognosis for that is so poor. Most patients succumb very quickly, within three to six months,” said Dr. Mark Urken, a cancer expert at Beth Israel Hospital in New York.

    It is more likely that Rehnquist has another more treatable type, said Urken and other physicians not involved in his treatment.

    Dr. Kenneth Burman, a thyroid specialist at Washington Hospital Center, said other possibilities are papillary thyroid cancer or lymphoma of the thyroid. People with those types can be treated and live for years without more problems.

    Nothing about him hating bush, but it’s not like I can’t possibly imagine a scenario like that. It does seem clear, however, that he’s tired of the circus of speculation (and reporters).

    “Get off my fucking lawn!” is the subtext I read.

  4. 4.

    Clever

    Agree with Mr. Furious…might just be a case of an old man getting sick of being asked “when you gonna leave?” by a whole lot of people, not just reporters.

    Considering his recent remarks, I’m not guessing he’s going to give a reason why he is staying, as is his right, but it does seem there’s something brewing behind the bench.

    My guess: He’s not willing to see the court unbalanced. [At least as unbalanced as the Dobson wing would have it.]

  5. 5.

    BinkyBoy

    Rehnquist is conservative. A REAL Conservative, not the fake stuff thats in the White House. He’s never been radical, but he reads the Constitution with a heavy dose of Conservativism. I don’t like his decisions, most of the time, but I respect his convictions.

    I would find it pretty easy to believe he hates Bunnypants, a vain arrogant little man with plans to subjugate ‘Murika’ to his vision of born-again Christianity. That goes against a lot of what Rehnquist has been about for his whole career in the SCOTUS.

  6. 6.

    oracledba

    Rehnquist stays until he breaks the record for longest serving justice – he’s got 2 years to go.

  8. 8.

    Steve

    Rehnquist is a staunch defender of the independent judiciary, which can put him at odds with people like Frist, DeLay, et al., but it’s really hard to imagine why he would have such strong personal feelings towards Bush.

  9. 9.

    BJ Chavez

    Rehnquist is a partisan hack…but he’s a partisan hack who cares more about having a strong, independant judiciary above everything else. Out of all the justices on the court, he’s the easiest to predict the vote of, if the issue is the power of the court. He’ll always side on increasing the court’s power. Given that Bush has at times been openly hostile to the power of the court to review executive decisions, (see Hamdi, Padilla), it’s no wonder that Rehnquist hates him. Bush has essentially told Rehnquist that Bush has the power to kick Rehnquist’s baby whenever he wants, and the Chief Justice doesn’t like it.

    So, yeah, actually it makes a sort of sense. Of course, it’s probably not the reason he’s not going to retire. Rehnquist has a very keen sense of judicial history and probably won’t retire until he’s the longest serving justice ever. Kleos and all.

  10. 10.

    deekaa

    why doesn’t anyone just say it-He’ll be dead in 2-4 months and he wants to die in his robes and get the state funeral and attention he craves. If he retires and dies who going to give a shit.

  11. 11.

    The Disenfranchised Voter

    why doesn’t anyone just say it-He’ll be dead in 2-4 months and he wants to die in his robes and get the state funeral and attention he craves. If he retires and dies who going to give a shit.

    Uhh I think the theory of him wanting to be the longest serving Justice is slightly, just slightly, more plausable…

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