Say hello to Chief Justice Scalia

So Rehnquist is dead. Here's hoping he can RIP, considering his abandonment of his long-held championship of states' rights to appoint a president in Bush v. Gore. If this blog were 3 years old instead of 3 weeks old, I could link to myself, the post I would have written on Election Day 2002, when the GOP won a majority in the U.S. Senate. Because those are the words I uttered when the AP moved the advisory reporting it. Roberts is a shoo-in. I'm glad the Democrats kept their powder dry. This should get quite ugly before it's over. Filibuster, nuclear option to ensue, probably. Maybe W will surprise us by appointing someone besides a sitting justice as chief, like, say a Roy Moore. Heard he could use the work. More likely, he'll elevate Scalia, or demonstrate, as Ben Stein says, that he's "the least racist president in mind and soul there has ever been" as he has "shown in his appointments over and over" and nominate Clarence Thomas. That way he can try to sneak another stealth wingnut, like Roberts, onto the court. You know, W's got capital, or he did before this week.

UPDATED: Newer obit, by the excellent Linda Greenhouse, at link.