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May this fascist #@($sucker suffer a long, protracted, excrutiatingly painfilled
death!
Rehnquist treated for cancer
Supreme Court chief justices illness stirs election concerns; he undergoes
tracheotomy for thyroid disease, plans to return to work
By DAVID G. SAVAGE
Los Angeles Times
WASHINGTON Social conservatives and liberal advocates both say the most
important issue in the presidential election is not Iraq or the economy, but the
future of the Supreme Court.
Their view was driven home forcefully Monday by the news Chief Justice William
H. Rehnquist, 80, has thyroid cancer.
Rehnquist was admitted to the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., on
Friday and underwent a tracheotomy on Saturday in connection with a recent
diagnosis of thyroid cancer, a court statement said. He is expected to be on
the bench when the court reconvenes on Monday, November 1.
Court officials refused to answer questions about Rehnquists treatment.
Thyroid cancer is cured easily in most patients, particularly younger ones, when
doctors surgically remove the thyroid, which is a gland in the throat that
secretes hormones to regulate metabolism. But some thyroid tumors grow quickly
in older patients and are often fatal.
Several thyroid cancer experts said it was a bad sign that the statement said
the chief justice had a breathing hole opened in his windpipe, rather than
having his thyroid removed. That might suggest the tumor is too advanced to be
treated, they said.
A tracheotomy is an unusual procedure in the management of thyroid cancer,
said Dr. Jerome Hershman, a thyroid cancer specialist at the University of
California-Los Angeles Jonsson Cancer Center. A tumor can encroach on the
trachea and narrow the airway. A tracheotomy is done to prevent the obstruction
of the airway.
It has been a decade since a justice stepped down the longest period of
stability since the early 1800s and eight of the nine justices have passed age
65. Some, like Rehnquist, are getting old even by Supreme Court standards.
Justice John Paul Stevens, who has survived prostate cancer, will be 85 in the
spring.
The prospect that one or more justices will step down in the next four years
fires up and frightens conservative and liberal activists.
The courts future is an incredibly important issue. There is a values clash in
this country, and unfortunately, the courts have become an ever greater factor
in making decisions on these profound issues, said Gary Bauer, chairman of the
conservative Campaign for Working Families.
While Bauer worries that a stridently liberal court will authorize same-sex
marriages nationwide, liberal advocate Ralph Neas says he fears a radical
right-wing court led by Justices Antonin Scalia, 68, and Clarence Thomas, 56,
will roll back civil rights, workers rights and environmental protection laws.
If you get a Scalia-Thomas majority, hundreds of precedents will be overturned,
not just Roe v. Wade, says Neas, president of People for the American Way.
The Supreme Court has the final word on the laws affecting broad areas of
American life, including religion, freedom of speech, abortion, the death
penalty, civil rights and private property. And other charged issues, such as
gay rights and gun rights, are likely to be resolved by the justices in the
years ahead.
Even if Rehnquist leaves, it is not certain there will be other court vacancies
during the next presidential term. Stevens, the oldest justice, remains vigorous
and might well serve another four years. All but Thomas are active in
questioning lawyers during the courts public arguments.
Justices Sandra Day OConnor, 74, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 71, had bouts with
cancer but have never hinted they planned to retire anytime soon.
Rehnquist has already signaled that if Bush were re-elected, he would probably
retire. In that case, Bush would choose the new chief justice, with presumably
little or no likely impact on the ideological lineup of the court.
If Sen. Kerry won the White House, Rehnquist might stay, health permitting,
rather than turn over the post to a Democrat.
If Rehnquist steps down in the next four years, Bush or Kerry could put his
stamp on the Supreme Court for decades to come.
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Duck Soup wrote:
May this fascist #@($sucker suffer
You, sir, are low.
Never will be as low as the #@($sucking fascist scumbag
Rehnquist.
May he burn in eternal hellfire.
May this fascist #@($sucker suffer a long, protracted, excrutiatingly painfilled
death!
Rehnquist treated for cancer
Supreme Court chief justice's illness stirs election concerns; he undergoes
tracheotomy for thyroid disease, plans to return to work
By DAVID G. SAVAGE
Los Angeles Times
WASHINGTON - Social conservatives and liberal advocates both say the most
important issue in the presidential election is not Iraq or the economy, but the
future of the Supreme Court.
Their view was driven home forcefully Monday by the news Chief Justice William
H. Rehnquist, 80, has thyroid cancer.
Rehnquist was admitted to the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., on
Friday and "underwent a tracheotomy on Saturday in connection with a recent
diagnosis of thyroid cancer," a court statement said. "He is expected to be on
the bench when the court reconvenes on Monday, November 1."
Court officials refused to answer questions about Rehnquist's treatment.
Thyroid cancer is cured easily in most patients, particularly younger ones, when
doctors surgically remove the thyroid, which is a gland in the throat that
secretes hormones to regulate metabolism. But some thyroid tumors grow quickly
in older patients and are often fatal.
Several thyroid cancer experts said it was a bad sign that the statement said
the chief justice had a breathing hole opened in his windpipe, rather than
having his thyroid removed. That might suggest the tumor is too advanced to be
treated, they said.
"A tracheotomy is an unusual procedure in the management of thyroid cancer,"
said Dr. Jerome Hershman, a thyroid cancer specialist at the University of
California-Los Angeles' Jonsson Cancer Center. "A tumor can encroach on the
trachea and narrow the airway. A tracheotomy is done to prevent the obstruction
of the airway."
It has been a decade since a justice stepped down - the longest period of
stability since the early 1800s - and eight of the nine justices have passed age
65. Some, like Rehnquist, are getting old even by Supreme Court standards.
Justice John Paul Stevens, who has survived prostate cancer, will be 85 in the
spring.
The prospect that one or more justices will step down in the next four years
fires up - and frightens - conservative and liberal activists.
The court's future is "an incredibly important issue. There is a values clash in
this country, and unfortunately, the courts have become an ever greater factor
in making decisions on these profound issues," said Gary Bauer, chairman of the
conservative Campaign for Working Families.
While Bauer worries that a stridently liberal court will authorize same-sex
marriages nationwide, liberal advocate Ralph Neas says he fears a radical
right-wing court led by Justices Antonin Scalia, 68, and Clarence Thomas, 56,
will roll back civil rights, workers rights and environmental protection laws.
"If you get a Scalia-Thomas majority, hundreds of precedents will be overturned,
not just Roe v. Wade," says Neas, president of People for the American Way.
The Supreme Court has the final word on the laws affecting broad areas of
American life, including religion, freedom of speech, abortion, the death
penalty, civil rights and private property. And other charged issues, such as
gay rights and gun rights, are likely to be resolved by the justices in the
years ahead.
Even if Rehnquist leaves, it is not certain there will be other court vacancies
during the next presidential term. Stevens, the oldest justice, remains vigorous
and might well serve another four years. All but Thomas are active in
questioning lawyers during the court's public arguments.
Justices Sandra Day O'Connor, 74, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 71, had bouts with
cancer but have never hinted they planned to retire anytime soon.
Rehnquist has already signaled that if Bush were re-elected, he would probably
retire. In that case, Bush would choose the new chief justice, with presumably
little or no likely impact on the ideological lineup of the court.
If Sen. Kerry won the White House, Rehnquist might stay, health permitting,
rather than turn over the post to a Democrat.
If Rehnquist steps down in the next four years, Bush or Kerry could put his
stamp on the Supreme Court for decades to come.
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