So, you might have heard Justice Kennedy is retiring. The news was hard to miss, given the gnashing of teeth on the left and the gleeful anticipation on the right. For the most part, this isn’t really much to worry about, and the people claiming it’s the end of the Republic are being petty and disingenuous.
Let’s all take a deep breath here. In. Out. In. Hold it. Out. Now jazz hands. OK. Let’s talk this through like grown-ups.
This should come as a surprise to absolutely nobody. Kennedy has been making noises about retirement for at least three years. The idea that this blindsided the DNC leadership means that they’ve hidden their heads in the sand under the impression he’d wait out Trump’s first term. That was beyond stupid. The fact they’re unprepared for this means they’re still laboring under the same smug complacency that has bled the party dry at the state level over the last decade, and the same one that led them to nominate an awful, untrusted Presidential candidate who couldn’t beat Donald J. Continued...