And Then There Were Four

Reliable conservatives on the Supreme Court, that is. Following the likely confirmation of John Roberts, the Supreme Court will have a near majority of honest to goodness conservative justices for the first time in over a decade. Since Ruth Ginsberg replaced Byron White, the Court has been made up of three groups. The Liberal Four (currently Breyer, Souter, Ginsberg & Stevens) the Wishy Washy Two (Kennedy & O'Connor) , and the Conservative Three (Rehnquist, Thomas & Scalia).

Fortunately for Conservatives (and the Republic) The Wishy Washy Two never completely succumbed to the blandishments of The Dark Side and thus we have had a dozen years of moderation/compromise/goulash. It seemed that for ever really awful ruling, there was one that was fairly decent, and thus an uneven stasis was maintained.

It has been amusing to watch both Liberals and Conservatives take turns being happy and gloomy the past few days. Neither side seems quite able to decide whether this "stealth" candidate is Santa Claus or the Bogey Man.

Amongst all the breathless chatter about how Roberts' votes will differ from O'Connor's almost no one has publicly considered how Roberts' personality will affect the OTHER Justices. Only on this Liberal web site have I seen anyone put their finger on this important issue. The closing lines say it well:

"Kennedy probably won’t budge on the core issue of reproductive rights, but in other areas, he may be up for grabs. In fact, should Roberts be confirmed, his impact on Justice Kennedy is likely to be the most important near-term effect of his arrival at the Court. "

Robert's effect on Kennedy is THE most profound short term question.