O'Connor retiring...why does this surprise anyone?

I may be the only left-of-center blogger not in a lather over the retirement of Sandra Day O'Connor. It's not that the idea of another Scalia-style wingnut on the court doesn't disturb me, it's that the die was cast for this scenario on election night 2004. THAT was the night to start being afraid if you're gay, or if you're a woman who thinks she should control her own body, or if you think completely unfettered corporate greed may not be a good thing. All this means is that the future of which we were so terrified is now.

What makes things interesting is that Bush's approval ratings are in the tank, and so are those of Congress. America is realizing that the theocratic warmongering vision of today's Republican party is NOT what they signed on for (even though it's what they got when they cast their votes). Congress has to run for re-election this year, but Bush does not. It'll be interesting to see how the nomination/confirmation process plays out. If Bush were smart, he'd nominate a consensus candidate, but that's not his style. Because he doesn't live in consensus reality, he still believes he has a mandate from the people, and even if he knows he doesn't, he does know that he still holds all the cards.

The time to prevent a wingnut court was last November, and our candidate didn't have the balls to do it. No sense crying about it now.