Originally posted on 11/07/2012:

Quote Originally Posted by d2bets View Post
Actually it is just the opposite. The next justice to retire is almost certainly going to be Ginsburg. She's as liberal as they come so it can't move further left from her. If Romney had won he would have replaced Ginsburg and that would be a serious shift.

Now if Thomas, Scalia, Alito or Roberts leave then we have a shift. Alito and Roberts are new, so very unlikely. Thomas isn't going. Scalia won't go. Unless one of them die, they're not leaving. Kennedy? Maybe. That's possible. And that would matter.
In the broader scope, it would have remained the same. The court is painfully conservative - to the point of having a full conservative majority at present.

Gingsberg needs to retire, and should have done so before this election. However, Obama will get another one. Effectively shaping 4 seats that will impact this country for decades.

I am 100% fine with having a conservative congress, and don't really care if a conservative is the President, as long as he isn't a goddamn fukking moron (a presidential candidate since bush doesn't fit that). What I cannot stand, and what literally keeps me up some nights is the thought of a conservative court. The court has the biggest and longest lasting impact on individual liberties, and the way Americans view them. I think having a strong conservative stance on individual liberties has the potential of a death sentence to the perceived and real freedoms of Americans.