Elli Ganchrow writes:
The big news of the night is that Justice Souter will be retiring at the end of this term. Souter, who was nominated by George H.W. Bush, was one of the 4 liberal members of the Court and therefore his replacement (which will almost certainly be a liberal) will not change the ideological makeup of the Court. Two interesting things to watch: 1. How liberal will the nominee be? As Obama has not yet made any real decisions yet on a range of major issues, he sometimes makes it hard to tell if he is a true Clinton moderate or a Carter liberal. This decision will give us guidance as to how Obama will govern. 2. Arlen Specter was the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, however now that he jumped to the Democrats, the Republicans will need to find a new ranking member. The ranking member will play a major role in the nomination process. While Specter would have been a pushover for Obama's nominee, Jon Kyl could be a more difficult roadblock for the nominee. Of course, there is little the Republicans can do to actually stop the nomination.
____________________________________________________________________
Good news for the Republicans in Kentucky where Senator Bunning has announced his retirement. Bunning, who is a Republican, has made a series of bizarre statements and some doubted that he is lucid. His retirement will allow the GOP to nominate someone new and therefore increases their chances of holding this seat in this dark red state.
___________________________________________________________________
Joe Biden's statement today "http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22425001/vp/30494440#30494440" that Americans should avoid airplanes and subways confirms (once again) Biden's well-deserved reputation that he is gasbag. His comments were irresponsible and quite idiotic. If the White House was smart they would hide Biden in an undisclosed location.
____________________________________________________________________
Kudos to Nathan Diament of the OU's IPA for publicly confronting the new lobbying group "J Street" which bills itself as being "Pro-Israel". While we celebrated Yom Haatzmaut yesterday, we also remember the great dangers that face the Jewish state. J Street is a group which, according to its website, calls for a Palestinian state, the division of Jerusalem, the giveback of the Golan Heights, the stoppage of settlement construction, calls on the Israeli military to cease operations in Gaza, calls the Foreign Minister of Israel a "racist", calls for diplomacy with Iran etc. Are there not enough anti-Israel groups in the world, that a group of American Jews felt the need to establish yet another group that will put pressure on Israel to make concessions?
