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Flashback: That Time The NYT Editorial Board Pleaded With Justice Kennedy To Not Retire...HA HA HA

Matt Vespa
Matt Vespa  |  June 27, 2018 6:30 PM

Maybe deep down the Left knew this day was coming. It doesn’t make it any less devastating for them. Rumors of Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy’s retirement have been swirling for years—and now that day has arrived. On July 31, he will be making his exit. And the Trump White House has another vacancy to fill, the second in 18 months. Conservatives are primed to have a solid majority on the high court, which could expand in the coming years. Trump will remain president until 2020 and right now, it’s very likely he’ll win a second term. A new Supreme Court nominee added to the bench will greatly improve his chances, which means we shouldn’t be shocked if the Left goes barbarian horde on whoever is selected. Yet, that’s for another time. Let’s go back to April, where The New York Times editorial board printed an open letter to Justice Kennedy to not retire for the sake of the country:

Dear Justice Kennedy,

As you have no doubt heard, rumors of your impending retirement are, for the second year in a row, echoing around Washington and across America. While you and your colleagues on the Supreme Court were listening to the final oral arguments of the term in recent days, those rumors were only growing more insistent.

How can we put this the right way? Please don’t go.

Sitting between the four liberal justices and the four conservatives, you are the most powerful member of the most powerful court in the country, as you have been for at least a decade. Your vote, more than that of any other justice, has delivered landmark legal victories for Americans of all political stripes, from gays and lesbians seeking equal rights to African-American college students seeking a better education to deep-pocketed corporations seeking to spend more money influencing politics.

You have sent mixed signals about your intentions, but that hasn’t stopped Republicans in Congress from referring to your departure as a done deal. (Of course, they said the same thing last year.) They smell blood — if they can install another rock-ribbed conservative like Neil Gorsuch, the court will have a locked-in right-wing majority for the rest of most of our lifetimes. They won’t even have to steal a seat to do it.

 […]

We realize this isn’t an entirely fair request. Every 81-year-old, especially those who have devoted their lives to the service of their country, should have the freedom to retire without worrying that the nation’s future may hang in the balance. But this is the world we live in.

Mr. McConnell is probably correct that blocking President Barack Obama’s third Supreme Court pick, Merrick Garland, was his biggest success as a politician, and that the possibility of another conservative on the court was the single most important factor in “bringing Republicans home” during the 2016 election. Yet he may find this was a Faustian bargain. By stealing the seat for short-term political advantage, Mr. McConnell has inflicted institutional damage from which the court, and the Senate, may never fully recover.

The board's letter also detailed opinions in which they agreed and disagreed with Kennedy, namely supportive of Obergefell, which legalized gay marriage in all 50 states, and disappointed in the Citizens United decision. But seriously, shut the hell up, New York Times. If there is an institutional crisis, it began long ago, when Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee and tried to kill Clarence Thomas’ nomination. There is no crisis, even if you think so because something doesn’t go your way. That’s the default liberal position. If we lose, or if I disagree, then this is a systematic flaw in American society a government. No—it just means your position and your candidate suck and the voters told them to piss off. Kennedy can do whatever he wants and he just did. Trump won the presidential election. Sorry, folks—elections have consequences and President Trump will get a solid conservative on the court. We can thank Harry Reid for that for nuking the filibuster. I don’t think there’s a crisis—most Americans who aren’t raging liberals don’t think so either. We’re not all trapped in this glass case of emotion that the Left loves to perpetually wallow in to maintain their position as miserable and snobby people. 

The reactions to Kennedy’s retirement have been gold, though a word of warning; there’s some strong language.

Thank you for your service, Justice Kennedy. While not every decision was a win for conservatives, they were fair, and you did honor to the bench. Enjoy your much deserved retirement and thanks for not actually caving to a bunch of insufferable people that is the NYT editorial board. 

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