"O'Connor Urged to Reconsider Retirement."

This is retarded. A bunch of lady legislators are pleading with O'Connor to come back if and when Rehnquist, who's been recently hospitalized, finally decides to rest on his laurels. Jeez man. Fuck off, will ya? The asserted quid pro quo--which isn't even theirs to give--is that O'Connor gets to be Chief. Well whoop-dee-fucking do. Being Chief is 90% administerial, the only thing that's politically significant about being Chief is that you get to assign opinions if you're voting with the majority. Last time I checked, it was still one Justice, one vote. O'Connor has a life outside of the Court--she won't shrivel up and die inside of six months, i.e., Blackmun, Marshall, etc. Plus, her husband's ailing and although I don't personally know what that's like, I imagine if you're pushing 80 and your husband of five decades is sick, it would be nice to enjoy what remains of the life you share together.

On another note, the Washington state chapter of NARAL is throwing a "Screw Abstinence" party. I'm a closet pro-lifer, so I have an inherent bias. But if I were NARAL, I don't think I'd throw events that blur the lines between a constitutional right to the integrity of one's body, and a constitutional right to be sexually permissive. Although both privileges, in my mind, are part and parcel of our plethora of substantive due process rights; one is politically savvy and the other is not. The last thing NARAL needs is for middle America to perceive them as a bunch of libertine whores (and man sluts--are there men in NARAL?). When I read about this, I got the Cartman on Jerry Springer voice stuck in my head: "I DO WHAT I WANT! I FUCK WHO I WANT! I SCREW ABSTINENCE IF I WANT!" Lame, lame, lame.