# Roberts appointed by Bush as Chief Justice!! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 5, 2005, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roberts-appointed-by-bush-as-chief-justice/320191 "2005-09-05T12:56:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Wolfian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Wolfian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolfian)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roberts-appointed-by-bush-as-chief-justice/320191/21 "2005-09-05T22:10:38Z")
> [@Tracy Lord](#): > > I’m assuming they’re a reference to something in _Trial By Jury_, but what is the reference, exactly? (Yes, yes, I know I’m turning in my G&S fangirl card by not getting it…) The story I heard is Rehny saw the show, saw stripes on the judge’s robe, and said “I gotta get me some of that.” ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roberts-appointed-by-bush-as-chief-justice/320191/22 "2005-09-05T22:30:04Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > Scalia is a pretty smart guy. He surely expected it to play out exactly like it did. Intellectualizing that you’re not going to get the job you’ve wanted for the last 20 years and then not actually getting the job you wanted for the last 20 years aren’t the same thing. Regardless of how mentally prepared Scalia may have been for getting passed over, I still believe that there’s a big part of him that’s bitter about it. He’s shown himself repeatedly to be childishly petty and vindictive when things don’t go his way. Read some of his dissenting opinions, especially ones in which O’Connor wrote the majority opinion in which he openly mocks her. He’s been known also to take the bench to read his dissents aloud for the purpose of belittling the majority. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roberts-appointed-by-bush-as-chief-justice/320191/23 "2005-09-05T22:52:05Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > How is this a suprise? If he elevated a current Justice there would have to be an additional confirmation hearing. With everything else that is going on right now, we don’t have time for this shit. Well, the other option is that he could have kept Roberts’ nomination for AJ and appointed another outsider for the CJ spot. Same number of confirmation hearings in that case. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roberts-appointed-by-bush-as-chief-justice/320191/24 "2005-09-05T23:00:39Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > Well, the other option is that he could have kept Roberts’ nomination for AJ and appointed another outsider for the CJ spot. Same number of confirmation hearings in that case. I don’t see how that’s an option. If he was Bush’s best candidate a month ago he’s Bush’s best candidate now. For him to find someone else would be to stab his own guy in the back. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roberts-appointed-by-bush-as-chief-justice/320191/25 "2005-09-05T23:31:11Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > Well, the other option is that he could have kept Roberts’ nomination for AJ and appointed another outsider for the CJ spot. Same number of confirmation hearings in that case. True but unless someone comes up with a video of Roberts killing kittens, his confirmation is a lock. If they can’t get a Chief before the next term starts, Stevens acts as the Chief. Bush does not want that. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roberts-appointed-by-bush-as-chief-justice/320191/26 "2005-09-06T02:50:34Z")
> [@alanak](#): > > Plus, I’m willing to bet that Bush asked Roberts first. Yeah, that _would_ save George alot of embaresment. ---
**Author:** ![qubed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f07891/32.png) [@qubed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/qubed)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roberts-appointed-by-bush-as-chief-justice/320191/27 "2005-09-06T04:11:12Z")
> [@Airman Doors](#): > > I don’t see how that’s an option. If he was Bush’s best candidate a month ago he’s Bush’s best candidate now. For him to find someone else would be to stab his own guy in the back. I don’t think that’s necessarily true. There was a very good chance that Rehnquist would die or resign within the next three years, so it’s very possible Bush had a different candidate that he had in mind to elevate to CJ. And maybe Roberts was only good enough for an ordinary justice. Prior to Rehnquist’s death, we didn’t _know_ if Roberts was indeed Bush’s best choice. But now we do. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roberts-appointed-by-bush-as-chief-justice/320191/28 "2005-09-06T11:31:45Z")
> [@alanak](#): > > I don’t think that’s necessarily true. There was a very good chance that Rehnquist would die or resign within the next three years, so it’s very possible Bush had a different candidate that he had in mind to elevate to CJ. And maybe Roberts was only good enough for an ordinary justice. Prior to Rehnquist’s death, we didn’t _know_ if Roberts was indeed Bush’s best choice. But now we do. It’s not like being a Chief Justice requires an entirely different skill set than an Associate Justice needs. The CJ is basically just the justice that gets to set the court’s schedule. If Roberts is good enough to be an AJ, he’s good enough to be a CJ. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roberts-appointed-by-bush-as-chief-justice/320191/29 "2005-09-06T12:18:32Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > The CJ is basically just the justice that gets to set the court’s schedule. Read something of the history of, say, Brown v Board of Education, and then see if you can make the same statement. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roberts-appointed-by-bush-as-chief-justice/320191.md?page=1)