# Fork Hillary 6: The Supreme Unforking **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 12, 2010, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fork-hillary-6-the-supreme-unforking/535854 "2010-04-12T17:07:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fork-hillary-6-the-supreme-unforking/535854/21 "2010-04-12T22:00:12Z")
Ta, **Frank**. Anybody think it’ll happen again soon? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fork-hillary-6-the-supreme-unforking/535854/22 "2010-04-12T22:10:46Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Earl Warren wasn’t a male stripper! [Mandatory Homer] _Now_ who’s being naive? [/Mandatory Homer] > [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Anybody think it’ll happen again soon? I think Obama would like to nominate a non-judge. That list **Czarcasm** linked to includes three non-judges - Kagan, Granholm and Napolitano. And all of them were in the running last year, too. But I don’t know if circumstances will allow it. If he nominates someone with no judicial experience he may be accused of picking somebody unqualified. It’s just asking for it. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fork-hillary-6-the-supreme-unforking/535854/23 "2010-04-12T22:16:00Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Some education, if it’s not too much trouble, please. When was the last time a Supreme Court nomination was made of a candidate whose history of government service was predominantly as a _ **partisan** _ elected official? [Sandra Day O’Connor](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandra_Day_O%27Connor#Legal_and_political_career) was a Republican member of the Arizona State Senate, including becoming majority leader. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fork-hillary-6-the-supreme-unforking/535854/24 "2010-04-12T22:20:40Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I think Obama would like to nominate a non-judge. That list **Czarcasm** linked to includes three non-judges - Kagan, Granholm and Napolitano. And all of them were in the running last year, too. But I don’t know if circumstances will allow it. If he nominates someone with no judicial experience he may be accused of picking somebody unqualified. It’s just asking for it. On the other hand, it’s the perfect answer to those who are whining about “activist” judges. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fork-hillary-6-the-supreme-unforking/535854/25 "2010-04-12T22:28:15Z")
So, you think reason and evidence will be useful when arguing with the tighty-rightys about this? Interesting. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fork-hillary-6-the-supreme-unforking/535854/26 "2010-04-12T22:39:41Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > On the other hand, it’s the perfect answer to those who are whining about “activist” judges. I honestly don’t think that there’s any way that an Obama nominee won’t be labeled an “activist judge” by the fearmongers\* on the right. Hilary would be accused of being a likely “activist judge” long before any confirmation process starts, purely because many on the right dislike her so much. That said, this is purely a trial balloon. Someone leaked this just to give right-wing news\*\* anchors something to hyperventilate about that will never actually happen to distract from what will happen, just like “deem and pass.” \*I’m not saying that everyone on the right is a fearmonger, nor that everyone on the right listens to fearmongers, but that there are fearmongers on the right. \*\* and “Opinion” ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fork-hillary-6-the-supreme-unforking/535854/27 "2010-04-13T10:19:56Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Ta, **Frank**. > > Anybody think it’ll happen again soon? That was actually going to be my point. I was even taught in high school that it wouldn’t happen. (Although they actually taught it like it was mandated.) ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fork-hillary-6-the-supreme-unforking/535854/28 "2010-04-13T16:08:25Z")
> [@appleciders](#): > > Someone leaked this just to give right-wing news\*\* anchors something to hyperventilate about that will never actually happen to distract from what will happen, just like “deem and pass.” Sure looks like the Great Mentioner this time was Orrin Hatch, BION. Perhaps it wasn’t intended to _distract_ his party’s base, but to _motivate_ them to support their planned opposition to whoever? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fork-hillary-6-the-supreme-unforking/535854/29 "2010-04-14T02:59:33Z")
> [@](#): > > Sure looks like the Great Mentioner this time was Orrin Hatch, BION. Perhaps it wasn’t intended to distract his party’s base, but to motivate them to support their planned opposition to whoever? If so, I think it was a bad idea. The right has spent a couple of decades building up Hillary Clinton as a bogeyman. Now that her name’s been mentioned, Obama could nominate Bernie Sanders and the right would say “at least he’s not as bad as Hillary.” ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fork-hillary-6-the-supreme-unforking/535854/30 "2010-04-14T04:02:44Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > [QUOTE=kaylasdad99] > > Ta, Frank. > > Anybody think it’ll happen again soon? That was actually going to be my point. I was even taught in high school that it wouldn’t happen. (Although they actually taught it like it was mandated.) [/QUOTE] According to Toobin’s book on the Supreme Court, [The Nine](http://books.google.ca/books?id=FWK-BLByhmEC&printsec=frontcover&dq=toobin+the+nine&source=bl&ots=1Jv-bSBxbv&sig=OgQoKGpv9mJcNB0Xs_yxSxfjkCE&hl=en&ei=tT3FS-6_DYH-M-3fnZ0O&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CAYQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false), President Clinton seriously contemplated appointing Governor Mario Cuomo to the Supreme Court in 1993, but ultimately appointed Ginsburg after Cuomo dithered too much about whether to take the position. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fork-hillary-6-the-supreme-unforking/535854/31 "2010-04-20T06:18:03Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Earl Warren wasn’t a male stripper! Earl Warren was a _woman_?! ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fork-hillary-6-the-supreme-unforking/535854/32 "2010-04-20T13:45:11Z")
Earl Warren paid someone _else_ to refinish his cabinets? ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fork-hillary-6-the-supreme-unforking/535854/33 "2010-04-20T16:45:21Z")
Hugo Black, an staunch supporter of the New Deal, was nominated directly from the Senate – 20-some years earlier he had some minor judicial experience that lasted less than a year, but he was basically a judicial neophyte when he donned the robe. He became one of the most respected (and, for law students like me, frustrating) jurists on the bench, where he lasted over 30 years. There’s a lot of talk in the liberal blogoshpere, at least, that nominating a politician is a good idea because the Court is an essentially political institution, and navigating those waters would be good experience. It might also help make the Court more cohesive, as it’s been much more politically divided in the last 10/15 years than at any time since the era of the Four Horsemen. (Which is sorta weird, given that prior to the Sotomayor nomination, it was made up of four arch-conservatives, three centrists, and Stevens.) 5-4 decisions don’t give anybody confidence that the Court is actually doing justice, whether you’re on the winning side or not. On that basis, Sec’y Clinton would be a fine choice – she’s a polarizing figure to the public, it’s true, but she’s good friends with most of the Republicans in the Senate. And the fact that she could develop those relationships at all with people who spent years pillorying her (not to mention dragging her marital problems through the newspapers for cynical political advantage) is a testament to her skills as a politician and a builder of coalition. Frankly, her age is her worst feature as a candidate. –Cliffy [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fork-hillary-6-the-supreme-unforking/535854.md?page=1)