On October 25, the Supreme Court announced that Rehnquist would be presiding over the Supreme Court on November 1, the opening day of the current session.
On October 27, I wrote "don't count on it," because he would be far too ill after his then-recent surgery.
He did not appear on the bench on November 1.
On November 2 - Election day - I wrote that "he will probably never return."
He has not been seen in public since.
The reason Rehnquist won't swear in George Bush for his second term?
Most likely he will have died by then from his thyroid cancer.
Yesterday, December 13, court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg said the chief justice would reduce his workload significantly.
Various legal experts and law professors have weighed in on what this might mean, but they are clueless as to the nature of anaplastic thyroid cancer, the rapidly advancing, lethal form Rehnquist most likely has.
It grows so fast doctors can sometimes trace its advance daily by marking the skin over the edges of the tumor.
It is not a pleasant truth, but it is best to consider these things realistically.
Consider today's headlines:
The Washington Post's page 8 story headline:
Rehnquist Won't Vote in Every Case Heard This Term
The Wall Street Journal's page 4 story:
Rehnquist Indicates No Plans To Step Down From High Court
USA Today, on page 3:
Rehnquist Further Reduces Workload
These papers and their stories completely missed the likely events to come.
Stay tuned.
Article comments
1 - RJ
While all decent people hope for Mr. Rehnquist's recovery, it is likely that he is has little time left to live.
If that's the case, will Bush support Scalia or Thomas as the new Chief Justice?
And who will be Bush's pick to fill the USSC vacancy?
2 - Angie
Lord help us all if the best we can come up with for Chief Justice is Scalia and/or Thomas. With all the brilliant legal minds in this country, surely we can do better than either of these two!