The Thomas Clowned Affair

I'm not buying the rumors that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas wants to retire in 2017, and I think it's a load of crap.

Justice Clarence Thomas, a reliable conservative vote on the Supreme Court, is mulling retirement after the presidential election, according to court watchers.

Thomas, appointed by former President George H.W. Bush and approved by the Senate after a bitter confirmation, has been considering retirement for a while and never planned to stay until he died, they said. He likes to spend summers in his RV with his wife.

His retirement would have a substantial impact on control of the court. The next president is expected to immediately replace the seat opened by the death of conservative Justice Antonin Scalia, providing a one-vote edge in the court that is currently divided 4-4.

Should Thomas leave, that slight majority would continue if Donald Trump becomes president. If it's Hillary Clinton, then she would get the chance to flip two Republican seats, giving the liberals a 6-3 majority.

I think it's much more likely that Thomas is trying to motivate conservatives to vote for Trump using control of the Supreme Court as a cudgel, or that somebody in DC took Thomas's griping about missing Scalia and wanting to go tool around the country in an RV a lot more seriously than Thomas did, and they're the ones wanting to motivate Republicans to hold their nose and reach into the Trump septic tank in order to pull the lever for the GOP nominee in November.

Sadly, I don't think Thomas is going anywhere soon, but I can certainly see the prospect of Hillary Clinton forging a lasting 6-3 liberal majority (or 7-2 if that includes a replacement for Justice Kennedy) SCOTUS giving Republicans like Jazz Shaw at Hot Air nightmares for months.

This is what passes for GOTV if you're a conservative in 2016  I guess.  Some people figure that the fear of a woman in charge and her lasting legacy will get the Never Trumpers to vote, and they're probably right.