Supreme Court Judge John Paul Stevens announced today that he is retiring. President Obama stated that he wants to replace Judge Stevens with someone who has “an independent mind, a record of excellence and integrity, a fierce dedication to the rule of law and a keen understanding of how the law affects the daily lives of the American people. It will also be someone who, like Justice Stevens, knows that in democracy powerful interests must not be allowed to drown out the voices of ordinary citizens.”
Some Conservatives have already vowed that they will oppose whoever he picks. Evidently they want someone who does not have an independent mind and will just do what he’s told. A record of excellence is irrelevant to them. Integrity, to them has no place in the judiciary. They also have been fighting the idea of the rule of law for the last 10 years at least. Some Conservative also don’t seem to be concerned how the law affects the daily lives of the American people. Perhaps they are only concerned with how it affects the well-to-do. They seem to want it to be someone who believes that powerful interests must be allowed to drown out the voices of ordinary citizens.
I’m not a scholar or anything, but this doesn’t sound like what I was taught in civics class in high school.