Hugo Schwyzer

I don’t blog much about politics here, but I have followed the recent rulings from the Supreme Court with a mixture of dismay, jubilation, confusion, and above all, fascination. I have lots of very right-wing friends who are going through Bush Alienation Syndrome; they ought to comfort themselves that “their” president kept his promise to appoint justices in the Scalia and Thomas mold!

If the perception is true that we are a deeply divided nation, we also have a very deeply divided court. Lots of 5-4 rulings lately, with almost all of them featuring a solid liberal bloc that rarely splits apart (Souter, Stevens, Breyer, Ginsburg) and a solid conservative bloc (Alito, Roberts, Thomas, Scalia). Anthony Kennedy is the wild-card, almost invariably in the majority, taking over the role once held by Sandra Day O’Connor. This is his court, and he must be having a marvelous time. I wonder if Kennedy’s eight colleagues, seemingly committed to their two ideological camps, spend time “courting” him. I have this happy image of two groups of four heading out to lunch at two separate restaurants, each urging a vacillating Kennedy to come and dine with them.

But the right-wing killed immigration reform in the Senate today, and the Court struck a serious blow to desegregation efforts in public schools. My weary and disgruntled conservative friends ought to buck up a bit; they’re having a good week!

And since we’re talking politics, I’m still thinking that it’ll be John Edwards and Mitt Romney in the general election next year. Or maybe I’m just partial to exceedingly handsome and articulate men who are routinely underestimated and dismissed as lightweights! John Edwards is still getting my money, even as Dennis Kucinch still has my heart.