Supreme Struggle? So long Souter?

Well this ought to liven things up in the U.S. Senate, dontcha think?

NPR has learned that Supreme Court Justice David Souter is planning to retire at the end of the court's current term.

Wonder if transnationalist Harold Koh is going to be repurposed for this new opening?...or will we get someone just as repugnant, but more stealthy?

Souter was a GOP "stealth" nominee whom John Sununu sr. was convinced was a byed in the wool conservative New England Yankee.  To quote Maxwell Smart,....missed by THAT much. 

Liberals tend to find more reliable stealth nominees.

It will be interesting now that Arlen Specter will be on the majority side of Senate Judiciary how he is going to deal with an Obama SCOTUS nominee.  It appears likely that Orrin Hatch will be the new ranking minority leader. I think he's past his pitch count, myself. 

I have no delusions that we will get a Federalist style nominee, but if Obama were serious about appointing a serious nonideological jurists he ought to pick Jose Cabranes

Here's Wikipedia's "short list".  Of the lot, probably Sonia Sotomayor is the least problematic--at least she has siginifcant judicial experience and little time served advancing  radical judicial agendas 

We're going to learn a lot more about President Obama from his pick. We'll also learn a lot more about the Senate Republicans and if they have any fight left in them.