Redstate

The governor is probably right in that this Sup Court likely would not overturn Roe.  Even if Roberts and Alito turn out to be good justices, then that still leaves Kennedy as the deciding vote.  Does anyone really think that he would be willing to take the plunge and be the decisive vote in doing away with Roe?  Its more likely that he'd like to be the 'hero' in saving it.

By the time this case gets to the court, there will likely be at least one more Bush appointee on the court - Stevens is likely to retire at the end of this term.

do in a situation like this?  It is possible the Governor is laying the groundwork for a cave, an el divo.  Are plaudits from the media waiting in the wings?

where did you hear that? It sounds very unlikely to me that Stevens would retire before the end of 2008 term.

Normally I would defer to a Republican Governor's decision making on the tactics of going about this, but there are several reasons to doubt Round's judgment.

First, although he claims to be pro-life, he has not provided leadership on this issue. Both in 2004 and this year he is a passive participant on abortion law.

The second problem is that his initiatives this year include raising the minimum wage and buying laptop computers for all secondary school students in the state. These are not the actions of a conservative, and he did not campaign on either one.

Third, he believes the SD taxpayers ought to pay for him to fly around the state to see his son play football. His defense of this sounded like he thought he was entitled to use tax dollars for personal activities.

Fourth, he wastes tax dollars on things like spending over a quarter of a million dollars on a 'Made in SD' web site, that, at most, benefits a couple of hundred people in the state. Most of them are artists, who cannot find anyone to buy their art.

These are the kinds of behavior I would expect from a Liberal Democrat, not a Conservative Republican. All of these are reasons to question his perspective, motives and judgment.

I hope you're right, but I think that Stevens (and Ginsburg) will hold out as long as possible (and maybe even die in office like Rehnquist did), hoping to make it until 2009 in the hopes that a Democrat wins the Presidency.  I can't see either of them stepping down when they know it might finally result in a conservative majority.

The only way I can see either retiring while Bush is still in office is if the GOP loses the Senate this year, or if its majority is shrunk to the point that a filibuster could be maintained against another Bush SCOTUS nominee.  Then they might feel confident that Bush will have to replace them with a non-conservative.

I saw the interview yesterday (not that I'm actually admitting to watching MSNBC, I was looking for Olympic hockey or curling), Abrams was trying to get him to admit the bill was unconstitutional. "You wouldn't sign a bill that was unconstitutional, would you, WOULD YOU?" The governor answered with political-speak, saying nothing while trying to sound like you are answering the question.

It sounds to me like this was all a mistake, rather than a planned attack on the runaway courts, what a shame.

He's talking so scared of the courts, that it's clear that nobody had this plan in mind.

1. Pass the law
   
2. Fight a court challenge all the way through
   
3. If the courts throw it out in the end, re-pass the law with an added note that the Legislature and Governor disagree with the federal court, but assert their interpretation anyway.
   
4. Know that there's not going to be a civil war over this, and just enforce the law in state courts, while watching leftist heads explode.

Stevens recently purportedly made a comment off the record that he would prefer his replacement be named by a republican. Remember, although liberal, he was a republican appointee.

I hope you are right, but if it is so, then it would be nice if he would go ahead and retire, within the next few months, so that Bush can pick his replacement secure in the Senate majority that has confirmed Roberts and Alito.  If things go badly this November, then Bush will not get another conservative confirmed.

Maybe he wants a Republican President and a Democratic Senate to result in another Souter.