Sunday, October 12, 2008

Hold the phone - Justice Clinton?!

I actually needed to remind myself to breathe after stumbling upon this nugget casually mentioned in a RealClearPolitics article:
"Beckel sees an Obama appointment of Hillary Clinton to the Supreme Court bench
as soon as an opening occurs..."

So we avoided 4 to 8 years of President Hillary Clinton and now we may get her appointed to a lifelong position on the Supreme Court!? Breathe, Whitney, just breathe. Had this occurred to anyone else? She is technically qualified - she'd give Harriet Miers a run for her money - but what would a Clinton on the bench mean?

In the short term, not much. A President Obama would simply be replacing one of the liberal justices who has been waiting to retire until Bush was out of office.

Long term, however, her expansive view of government authority and negative rights could lead to court opinions with lasting effect on this country's rule of law. I shiver.

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