Hey, we are 2 out fo 5 on the way to regime change. Celebrate Amanda and Fish.

Steve, you might want to relocate your comment to the Gon' Fishin' thread.

The appointment of the conservative Sotomayor was unfortunate. Unfortunate, too, is that J. Stevens cannot remain much longer, having outlasted the fraudulence of the previous administration. Distrust in the current regime grows among Obama supporters: his next SCOTUS appointment should reveal a great deal about his actual political intentions.

Yet who could have anticipated the Ford appointee becoming a stalwart defender of both the Constitution and civil liberties? And certainly Bush'43 would not have named J. Souter had he known what lay ahead. We know what we are losing in the departure of J. Stevens. We can only hope Obama does also.

Yet who could have anticipated the Ford appointee becoming a stalwart defender of both the Constitution and civil liberties?

Stevens didn't change as much as the composition of the rest of the court moved to the right. When he was appointed by Ford, he was replacing a retiring liberal Roosevelt appointee, Douglas, and he was initially more suspect than the liberal wing of Brennan, Marshall, and Blackmun, occasionally joined by Stewart and White. And Brennan stuck around another 15 years to carry that torch, not Stevens.

During his court tenure, he's seen the likes of Reagan-Bush I/II appointees O'Conner, Scalia, Thomas, Roberts, and Alito seated. That's got a lot more to do with your observation, than Stevens himself.

And I've pointed this out to you before, Jack - if you keep bringing this up, Steven's big brother - supposedly still practicing law - might come over and punch you in the nose.