Flashback. 1993 LA.Times. Clinton picks moderate judge Ruth Ginsburg

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Goes to show just how bad the Nixon, Ford, Reagan(O'connor, Kennedy) and HW Bush picks were.

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Remember Democrats had the senate majority during that time span....had to pick someone who could get the 60 votes needed....

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Goes to show just how bad the Nixon, Ford, Reagan(O'connor, Kennedy) and HW Bush picks were.

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For the transition from the Warren through Burger and to the Rehnquist court - the (all Republican) picks were:

Nixon:

Burger (solidly right, but not extremist)

Blackmun (About as liberal as they get- Brennan or Ginsburg level leftness)

Powell (generally conservative, but often a swing vote for the Burger court)

Rehnquist (generally conservative)

Ford:

John Paul Stevens (similar to Blackmun - as left as they get)

Reagan:

O'Connor: right of center

(Rehnquist elevated to chief)

Scalia: Most conservative justice in 60+ years - probably ever - and a GOAT candidate intellect on the court

Kennedy: Swing vote moderate

HW:

Souter: initially left of center, at the end a reliable liberal/progressive vote

Thomas: Second most conservative justice in 60+ years, essentially comparable to Scalia in ideology


W and Trump don't have much of a better track record quite yet. Alito seems solid, but obviously Roberts is a loose cannon. Gorsuch on paper should be closer to Alito, Thomas and Scalia, but reads more like a Kennedy or Roberts now. Kavanaugh is still too early to tell.

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those idiots that want to get cute and pick a latino woman or a black woman need to understand that every Republican pick has a 50% chance of going lib (see Roberts). frick playing identity politics and find the closest you can to Scalia and Thomas and force them through.

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Amy Barret all the way

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Bork

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Probably the smartest person ever to serve in a national level position for the United States not named Thomas Jefferson or Henry Kissinger.

And certainly the smartest ever nominated for the Supreme Court (confirmed or not). Only denied confirmation because of his political ideology. Set a terrible precedent for the nation and the court.

O'Connor was a reliable Conservative. she had a very cautious view of the Court's role. Kennedy voted over 93% of the time with Scalia, Thomas, et al.

I would much rather prefer a judge that periodically defies political othodoxy.....they all do it, btw.

I find that far from disliking judicial legislation, many so called conservatives embrace it when it comes down on the side they agree with .