Kennedy Retirement Has Dems Seeing “Red”

So Anthony Kennedy announced his retirement yesterday. Immediately, liberals everywhere cringed. Why? Simple. They realize that the 5-4 Supreme Court that has been fairly evenly divided, even though Kennedy himself was appointed by the most conservative Republican president we’ve had in probably the past 100 years, is about to take a sharp and long lasting turn to the right.

Kennedy was the swing vote on most issues. He was pro-choice, he was pro-gay rights, and he was a “Constitutionalist” so he would flutter back and forth between the liberals and the conservatives. He was an enigma. But he was never consistent. You know he’d waver.

What Kennedy’s retirement after more than 30 years on the bench means is that Donald Trump will have a long-lasting impact on the history of this country. He’ll probably surpass Barack Obama’s impact by decades. What has the Democrats upset today is the fact that there really isn’t anything they can do about it unless they try and “Bork” one of the nominees. That isn’t likely.

Looking at it through the eyes of politics, there are ten Senators that are up for reelection from states Donald Trump won in 2016. They are all facing tough, uphill battles with tough candidates this year. None of them are assured reelection. That means they probably aren’t going to want to go against a Trump nominee to the high court because they could lose their seat over it. So, look for a few, not all, but anywhere between 3 and 5 Democrats to join the Republicans and vote in whomever Trump nominates.

Chuck Schumer was quick to take to the well of the Senate and tell his party they should “reject any nominee from Trump’s original list of 25 potential Supreme Court justices”. The reason he said that was because they are all rock-ribbed conservatives. The sad thing for Schumer is, there isn’t anything he can do about it. If any Democrat crosses over, he’s dead. A 5-4 and a 4-5 Court becomes a solid 5-4 Court.

Now throw into the mix, Ruth Bader Ginsburg is 85 years old. She says she’s not about to retire, but when you get to your 80’s you may not have a choice in the matter. Democrats called on her to resign prior to 2016 so that she could be replaced with a liberal. That didn’t happen, and if something were to happen to her now, a 5-4 Court turns into a 6-3 Court.

And let’s not forget Stephen Bryer. He’s 79 and though people aren’t talking about HIS retirement yet, he would take over as the oldest member of the Supreme Court should RBG retire. That takes a 6-3 Court and makes it a 7-2 Court with only Elena Kagen and Sonia Sotomayor as the only two liberals on the bench!

In a word, Kennedy’s announcement rocked liberals, and energized conservatives. Yes, it will be a campaign issue, but the damage will be done regardless who ends up controlling the Senate. The High Court will become a very conservative court for a generation.

Carry on world…you’re dismissed!

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