Ezra Klein speculates that we are going to get 2 + Scalia. He argues that with two Supreme Court vacancies, Bush can give his lunatic base the fanatic they crave and the rest of us will get pro-torture Gonzales.
Presumably, pro-torture Gonzales will be looking good next to the fanatic.
Ezra says Scalia as Chief Justice is okay with him (groan) because:
"Elevate him to head of the Court and his utterances and musings enter scrutiny, and when a hard conservative is saying things like '[m]ere factual innocence is no reason not to carry out a death sentence properly reached', that can only be good for Democrats. "
Yeah, like Bush's mad mutterings have been good for Democrats.
Scalia will likely get the promotion, but why pretend there is anything good about giving a dangerous man the power to do more harm? Already Scalia bases court decisions - which impact real people's lives - on rabidly insane thought processes that lead to statements like the one cited above. It bears repeating:
"[M]ere factual innocence is no reason not to carry out a death sentence properly reached."
That's our Antonio Scalia. Would you give this man a promotion or a straightjacket?
Related Posts: Thoughts on Scalia as Chief Justice
Rehnquist to Retire This Week
Tag: Supreme Court
