Tuesday, July 05, 2005 :::
 
A Certain Pudgy, Balding English teacher has had a lot on his plate in recent weeks, explaining his long absence from these pages, and finds he has a lot to talk about.

Today we will consider the fact that William Rehnquist is still Chief Justice of the United States (not of the Supreme Court, please note. Go read your Constitution.)Now, Mr. Rehnquist's continued service is a consummation devoutly to be wished, but the fact is that he is no longer physically able to do his job. Why, then, did he let Sandra Day O'Connor retire first?Many possibilities suggest themselves.

First and foremost, as anyone familiar with the ways of Washington can tell you, Mr. Rehnquist is one of life's true gentlemen. Always polite, considerate of waiters, other serving people, and even law clerks, he would naturally allow an esteemed colleague, particularly a woman, to go first.

Secondly, he obviously has a high estimation of his own abilities, with which this write concurrs. One would not set pen to paper (or pixels to screen) if one did not believe that what one had a lot to offer, and Mr. Rehnquist has a lot to offer. Add to that that he was once physically dominating, and the resignation of office clearly becomes something like resignation from life. In a town of big egos, it should not be doubted that Mr. Rehnquist has one of the biggest, but he is the opposite of Winston Churchill's famous dig, that a certain Member of Parliament was "a modest little man, with much to be modest about." Mr. Rehnquist is a proud man, with much to be proud of. A recent Washington Post assessment extolled the skill with which he managed the Court System, a quality lacking in his immediate predecessor.

Thirdly, he is a keen observer of people. Conservative admirers of George W. Bush often completely miss one very disturbing quality: he hates to be reminded of his obligations. The more that conservatives tell him that he should under no circumstances nominate Alberto Gonzales--who handles public office as if he were the personal attorney of, oh, you know, a certain former baseball executive--the more he will get his back up and be determined to appoint, oh, you know, Alberto Gonzales. (Gonzales, as George Will has noted, is Spanish for "Souter.")

And so it just may have entered the head of a certain Chief Justice of the United States that it may be his solemn duty to wait and see. Can he trust the Commander in Chief, or will he have to die with his boots on?

::: posted by A Mind That Suits at 11:57 AM


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What doesn't kill me, makes me laugh... usually.