Talk of Clarence Thomas Retiring

[Ben]

I heard a short snippet on Fox Business just now that mentioned Clarence Thomas talking about retiring after the election. I did a search, and about the only places this is mentioned is non-MSM sites. Mostly on the liberal sites, with a couple of links to conservative sites where they quote his wife as denying it.

I though this was weird for several reasons. A couple of big ones are, if this were made up by lefty sites, wouldn't it actually hurt them more than help them? Because the first thing I thought when I heard it was, "shoot, maybe I have to vote for Trump after all." Second, why would it just be his wife refuting it on the conservative sites vs him or his staff?

Anyway, unsubstantiated with interesting timing.

[Balog]

[Angel Eyes]

Thread necro:  Clarence Thomas addresses retirement rumors:

https://twitter.com/townhallcom/status/1526215424874008576

[Pb]

Thomas should have retired when Trump was President.  Remember how Ginsberg screwed the left by hanging on til the bitter end?

[RocketMan]

Thomas should have retired when Trump was President.  Remember how Ginsberg screwed the left by hanging on til the bitter end?

Why should he retire?  He enjoys his work on the court, he is good at it, and he is in relatively good health.

[Ben]

Why should he retire?  He enjoys his work on the court, he is good at it, and he is in relatively good health.

Yeah, that's my thought. He seems to be in good health. Anything can happen of course, but that goes for younger justices as well. If he (or any conservative justice) were RGB ill, then sure, leaving under a R president would be prudent.

[K Frame]

More liberal wet dream fantasies.

[Perd Hapley]

More liberal wet dream fantasies.

No, in those fantasies, his departure from the court results from being lynched by Tucker Carlson.

[Angel Eyes]

Yeah, that's my thought. He seems to be in good health. Anything can happen of course, but that goes for younger justices as well. If he (or any conservative justice) were RGB ill, then sure, leaving under a R president would be prudent.

Scalia was in reasonably good health ... until he wasn't.

[Pb]

Why should he retire?  He enjoys his work on the court, he is good at it, and he is in relatively good health.

He is 73 years old.  That is why he should have left when Trump was still around to appoint his successor.

[RocketMan]

He is 73 years old.  That is why he should have left when Trump was still around to appoint his successor.

At 73 he must be a death's door, then.  I guess he should have retired.

[Jim147]

John Force is 73. Look him up.

[sumpnz]

Thomas has been on the court a long time, but isn’t much older than Roberts or Alito.  He just got on the court a pretty young age, still in his 40’s IIRC.  Most justices stay on the court well into their 80’s.  There’s no great reason to pressure him into retirement, assuming his health is actually good, for another 3 POTUS terms.  It’s possible he could serve past the 2036 elections, and highly likely he’d still be there for the 2032 elections.  So long as he’s healthy I’m fine with keeping him there until there’s a good conservative majority in the senate with an R POTUS that will nominate a replacement of comparable quality.  Odds of that over the next 14 years are good enough, if we can stop the blatant election fraud.

[JTHunter]

Justice Thomas shouldn't consider retirement any more than that old "buzzard" did. 

[Perd Hapley]

Justice Thomas shouldn't consider retirement any more than that old "buzzard" did. 

And how did that work for her side?

[gunsmith]

And how did that work for her side?

well, they got "A.C.B" to replace "R.B.G"

[Pb]

And how did that work for her side?

This.

[Perd Hapley]

Must we watch again the footage of triggered snowflakes cursing RBG for her betrayal? Well, we don't have to, but it is a lot of fun.

[JTHunter]

And how did that work for her side?

The longer that Thomas can remain on the bench, the less chance "they" have of replacing him.
If the midterms go the way so many of us hope, the Left won't be able to muster the necessary votes. 

[Perd Hapley]

The longer that Thomas can remain on the bench, the less chance "they" have of replacing him.
If the midterms go the way so many of us hope, the Left won't be able to muster the necessary votes. 

Um, not really. Not if he stays on the bench through another friendly administration, and then the opposition gets back into power, and then he dies. That's what happened with Ginsburg.

[sumpnz]

If Trump or DeSantis or someone similar wins in 2024 and there’s a decent R majority in the senate it won’t surprise me if Thomas retires.  He might wait to see if he can hold on past 2026 or even past 2028 though.  It will really depend on how much he still enjoys the work and his health.

[JTHunter]

Um, not really. Not if he stays on the bench through another friendly administration, and then the opposition gets back into power, and then he dies. That's what happened with Ginsburg.

What I had said before is dependent on the outcome of 2024.  If this year's midterms go against the Left, they will be less likely and less able to push through a nominee.  Even if Thomas were to retire in 2023, the midterms this fall may make it difficult to alter the SC.
I agree that, having Thomas wait until '24 may not be a good idea as there could be too many changes by then.

[sumpnz]

What I had said before is dependent on the outcome of 2024.  If this year's midterms go against the Left, they will be less likely and less able to push through a nominee.  Even if Thomas were to retire in 2023, the midterms this fall may make it difficult to alter the SC.
I agree that, having Thomas wait until '24 may not be a good idea as there could be too many changes by then.

He’s only 73.  It would not be unreasonable to expect him to be able to keep serving through the 2032 POTUS elections.  It only seems like he so old he should retire because he’s been on the court for 30 years already.  He was 42 or 43 when he was confirmed whereas most justices don’t get confirmed until they’re about a decade or more older.  Alito is only 1 year younger than Thomas and nobody here is suggesting he should be retiring.

Insisting Thomas retire after the midterms while BIDEN IS STILL PRESIDENT is, forgive the shouting, DUMBFUCKERY.  The man is not on deaths door as far as anyone here knows.  At absolute best we’d get a Garland-esq nominee to replace him from Biden, regardless of how many net Senate seats the Rs take in November.  And there’s plenty of rinos now that the filibuster is dead to get such a nomination through.  If that happens kiss a meaningful 2A goodbye, because we all know damn well Roberts won’t cross the Ds.

Now, come 2025 if we have a President DeSantis, and a solid R Senate majority we can maybe open that discussion.  But if 2025 heralds a Harris or Buttegige (or however he spells it) or whatever dem administration then we just need to hope his health (and security detail) holds out for another 4-8 years. 

[Perd Hapley]

According to tradition and common sense, Thomas should wait until the party that nominated him is back in power, before he makes his seat available. Retiring while Vichy characters like Biden and Schumer hold power is obviously a Bad Idea.