CNN/AP: O'Connor says staying on court was her preference

[DeepModem Mom]

O'Connor says staying on court was her preference
February 4, 2007

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Retired Justice Sandra Day O'Connor would have preferred to stay on the Supreme Court for several more years until she was ill and "really in bad shape" but stepped down because of her ailing husband.

O'Connor, 76, also says she accelerated her retirement announcement by at least a year because then-Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, who was battling thyroid cancer, told her he was not ready to leave the court, according to a Newsweek interview released Sunday.

"I was concerned about whether he had an intention to step down since his plans might have altered my own. It's hard for the nation to grapple with two (retirements) at once," she said.

After Rehnquist said he was staying, O'Connor announced her retirement in July 2005. Rehnquist died two months later....

***

O'Connor currently divides her time between Washington and Phoenix, where she cares for her husband, John, who has Alzheimer's. Last summer, she reluctantly placed him in a care center in Phoenix and visits him often....

http://www.cnn.com/2007/LAW/02/04/oconnor.ap/index.html

[aggiesal]

1. In 2000, when she first heard that Gore had won in Florida, ...

thus giving the election to Gore, she was heard complaining,
because she wanted to retire during a Repug presidentcy.

Now she was going to have to wait until after 2004 or even
2008, when Gore's presidency ended.

No wonder she voted to allow Shrub as president.

[Downtown Hound]

2. Sandra, I don't really believe in hell,

but if there is one, may you cook in it for eternity for unleashing Bush upon the world. That is all.

[Zorra]

3. She should be disbarred for what she did in 2000, She disgraced

and abused the SCOTUS, and seriously damaged our democracy and nation.

Hopefully, she'll go down in history as the villain that she is.

[HappyWeasel]

4. For doing what she did, she did come down with some pretty good laws.

[BlueIris]

5. I hope Justices Souter and Stevens have good security. nt

[gratuitous]

6. You know something, Ms. O'Connor?

Fuck you, that's what. I don't give a flying fuck about the timing of the end of your career, only that it didn't come soon enough for the good of the country. We're saddled with your sick legacy, and every man, woman and child in America will be paying for your piss-poor judgment for decades to come. You wanted to stay on the court longer? Well boo fucking hoo. I'm sorry your husband has Alzheimers, but millions more people with Alzheimers and other diseases are going to die shitty little deaths thanks to your career. And they aren't going to have government-funded insurance and pensions and "gifts" from "admirers" to fall back on.

So Ms. O'Connor? Fuck you.

[Ignacio Upton]

7. Had she only waited another year and a half

We wouldn't have had to put up with Alito x(

[Hawkowl]

8. FUCK HER

Just like a rethuglican trying to evade her responsibility in instigating this country's greatest disaster. All she is worried about is the only thing she will be remembered for is inflicting Shrub on the world. FUCK YOU! You filthy fascist!

[deminks]

9. She retired to care for her husband...

and then put him in a care home, "where she visits him often".

It's not all about you, Ms. O'Connor. I hope that your decisions haunt you for eternity.

[Doctor_J]

10. I hope that school history texts will detail her complicity in the demise of the US

I am sure the wingers won't let the truth seep into the classroom, but thinking Americans will always know that she pissed on the Constitution as one of her last acts on the bench.

[Joe Bacon]

11. Sandy, you got what you deserved.

Just like Alzheimer's bit Reagan in the ass for all the hurt he caused, it hit you too. You got what you deserve.

[xchrom]

12. may you choke on your preferences, ma'am.

[Javaman]

13. Right, whatever, she screwed this nation by she did in 2000...

she can cough up all the excuses she wants but the reality is that she has to live till the day she dies over her 2000 decision. Me thinks she enjoys lying to herself. Whatever gets her through the night while the rest of the nation suffers.

[UTUSN]

14. Dear Sandy: STFU!!1 n/t

[damntexdem]

15. So Rehnquist lied! Said he was staying, but died instead.

O'connor still chose to leave. First she voted to select an incompetent as president; then she retired when he could appoint her successor. In those two actions, she did maximum damage to this country -- anything else she did pales in comparison.

[Zhade]

16. You helped illegally install b*s*, so FUCK YOU!

NT!