To understand what has gone wrong in the American judicial appointments process, look no further than the apocalyptic hysteria which has greeted the retirement of Supreme Court justice Anthony Kennedy. Reagan appointee Kennedy has come to be seen as a ‘swing vote’ on the Court, though deciding to retire during the Trump administration has seen his reputation undergo a radical overhaul.
Amanda Marcotte at Salon writes that Kennedy ‘knows Trump is a racist authoritarian with an obvious hunger for fascist levels of power’ but would ‘still prefer Trump to nominate his replacement than a Democratic president’. MSNBC’s Chris Hayes tweets:
‘Kennedy handing his seat over to Trump is the most perfect example ever about how it is all the party of Trump. All of it. Kennedy looks down from SCOTUS and sees the man in the White House and says “Yes. Him. I want him to be the one to choose my replacement”.’
In the space of 48 hours, Kennedy has gone from revered moderate to judicial pariah.
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