Tha Supreme Schmort: Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore.
i have to keep reminding myself, and others, of the tendency of the Supreme Schmort to engage in internal self-regulation to maintain a certain ideological equilibrium. basis: the court is the only branch of government without material power: the executive has the folks with the guns, the legislature has the money, the court only has its own legitimacy.

this is why i'm reasonably confident that, no matter what scumbags and ideological freaks GWM (George W. Motherfucker) can appoint to the Schmort, they won't, e.g., "overturn" Roe v. Wade. (notwithstanding that Roe has essentially been superseded by Casey v. Planned Parenthood, and arguably updated by Carhart.) but whatever: my point is that the Schmort is, by institutional psychology and design, fairly cautious, and we shouldn't be too freaked out: yet.

and here's my hot prediction for the day, as explained to Tha Good Senatuh: look for GWM's first nominee (probably to replace Rehnquist, who appears to be tottering medically to join his longtime mental and ideological tottering) to be a sacrifical Bork: a nominee who is obviously unacceptable, so the dems have to use a lot of political capital to defeat the nomination, and are weakened for a stealth freako as the next nominee. but we can be optimistic: of 132 names put forward as potential justices since the Supreme Court was established, 27 people have been rejected!

now, what will really be the test of whether the democraps are worth two shits in a bathtub is this: whether they filibuster the really horrendous pieces of garbage GWM nominates. i suspect they'll moan, and do a lot of hand wringing, and vaguely try. but all we can really hope for is that GWM fucks up like GHWM, his daddy did, and appoints another accidental moderate, ala Souter. cf. O'Connor's appointment by the Great Alzheimer.

see also, for ideologically accidental (mis)appointments, Ford's choice of Stevens, probably the most passionate liberal on the Schmort today, and for that matter consistently the msot liberal since William Brennan [an Eisenhower appointee, as was Earl Warren!] and Thurgood Marshall left

p.s. confidential to Tha Good Senatuh: who's the lazy bloggah now?