Non-judges Only for the Court

Says Senator Harry Reid and Three of the Supremes.
A home state newspaper of Senator Harry Reid, Reno Gazette-Journal, has an interview with him which is quite enlightening. Senator Reid is urging the President to moderate his pick for the Supreme Court so that the Democrats will be willing to support the nomination. The senator says that the current Supremes do not want any more judges on the Supreme Court. Wow! Who knew?

“I had lunch at the Supreme Court 10 days ago and at my table were (associate justices) Sandra Day O’Connor, (Antonin) Scalia and (Stephen) Breyer,” Reid said. “They said what they would like to see is the president pick someone who has not been a judge."

After pondering their sage advice, the good Senator has done them one better. He has decided the best choice for a non-judge can only come from the United States Senate. Why not consider the senator from Reid's neighboring state of Arizona, John McCain. Everyone loves John, especially liberals.

“And what I have said to anyone who will listen is what I think he should do is pick one of the senators. I know that I won’t get someone who I will jump up and down and cheer for,” Reid told a group of employees at the Reno Gazette-Journal. “But there are many fine and conservative jurists out there."

Oh? After agreeing with Justices O'Conner, Breyer and Scalia that the court does not need any more judges, he then urges appointing one.

Senator Reid cited Justice Hugo Black of Alabama who was a former senator and who was appointed to the Supreme Court by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1937. Although Black had been a member of the Ku Klux Klan, President Roosevelt, being a progressive, experimented with sending Black to serve on the nation's highest court. Senator Reid is quite obviously hinting that President Bush consider another former Klansman turned Senator, Bobby Byrd of West Virginny. There would be absolutely no resistance at all from Senator Schumer and the gang of Dems to kicking that particular gregarious solon up to the high court. Although Senator Byrd is a "high and mighty" judge upon the floor of the U.S. Senate, bible in one hand and constitution in the other, he fits the bill, as he is not in any way an official jurist.

“I think it is a great idea,” Reid said about the possibility of appointing a senator to the Supreme Court. “Some outstanding people have come from the Senate. The last was an ex-Ku Klux Klansman who turned out to be one of the greatest civil-rights jurists of all time.”

Suppose that the President decides that the nomination to fill the vacancy of Sandra Day O'Conner should be another woman, one who would continue the legacy of swing voting? Harry Reid is probably wishing that President Bush would consider Senator Hillary Clinton, of New York. The Republicans would consider it nothing short of brilliant, as it would eliminate her from running against them for President. After the 2008 election, the vast right wing conspiracy would get her impeached and thrown off the court. As for the Democrats, they only want the best for Hillary. They know that she is without doubt the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, but, Harry Reid added, there are other Democrat senators and governors who would make much better candidates, and have no ties to that muckwater swamp known as Arkansas. As for those middle of the roaders wanting a swing voter, well, there are rumors that Hillary can be a swinger too.

“It is a wide-open field,” Reid said. “The person who is leading at this stage is Hillary Clinton. Hillary Clinton, of course, has lots of money. She comes from a state with lots of people in it, but she still has a few ties to Arkansas. I think she is the person to beat, but that doesn’t necessarily mean she is the best candidate.”

The Democrat leader from Nevada revealed that he and President Bush have talked privately to ensure that the appointment of the successor for Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor does not cause partisan squabbling. So when you hear of the nomination of Senator Robert Byrd or of Senator Hillary Clinton for the court, remember that you read it here first.

In the hour long interview with the journalists, Harry Reid aslo gave his views on the war. Reid is against a timetable for pulling the troops out of Iraq, but he urged that the President set "benchmark" dates for pulling our troops out of Iraq.

“It would be very damaging to us to cut and run now,” Reid said. “But the president has to announce publicly some benchmarks that we could look to. The speech he gave (last week) was to stay the course. American people deserve more than that. We need some benchmarks."

Timetables bad; benchmarks good, mused Senator Reid to himself, wondering why that Chimpster Bush cannot understand the difference.

Trackedback at Wizbang's Carnival, basil's blog Brunch: 7/9/2005, Point Five, Patrick Ruffini, Mudville Gazette, The Volokh Conspiracy, 'SCOTUS Nomination: No More Mr. Nice Guy' from Wizbang, 'J. Harvie Wilkinson for the Supreme Court' from The LLama Butchers, and Satire: "The only Supreme Court editorial you need to read".