Supreme Court is key to new Bush term

[emad]

Independent on Sudnay
By Rupert Cornwell in Washington
23 January 2005


The clearest pointer to the course of the second Bush administration at last week's inauguration was not the soaring presidential pledge to end global tyranny - a mismatch between rhetoric and reality if every there was one.

Rather, it was the sight of the frail old man who administered the oath of office - propped up on a walking stick, with a scarf only partially concealing the device installed in his throat that is part of his treatment for thyroid cancer.

Last Thursday, William Rehnquist, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States since 1986, was swearing in a President for the fifth, and without doubt the last, time. Within months, perhaps sooner, the 80-year-old Chief Justice is likely to resign. At that point the biggest political battle of Mr Bush's final term will begin in earnest.

The longer presidents hold office, the more they worry about their place in history. But after eight years at most they are gone. Supreme Court justices, however, hold their seats until they decide to retire. The President could end up appointing not just one, but up to four, by the time he leaves the White House. If so, his imprint on American society could endure for a generation.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=603726

[illflem]

1. Rehnquist will go for sure

but my hope is the more moderate and liberal justices realize what will happen if they step down and will wait at least four more years before retiring. I'm certain the thought has crossed thier minds.