The Hoarse Whisperer

He was appointed 30 years ago. The suggestion that somehow he’s connected to Trump seems, well, to stretch credulity.

There is no “suggestion”. His son was Trump’s banker at a bank already fined for money laundering for Russia.

The suggestion is that somehow Trump had the “pull” to influence a 30 year sitting S.C.O.T.U.S. Judge. There’s more than enough problems with Trump - this sort of jabberwocky doesn’t hurt him - just helps sell @nytimes and diminishes respect for the Court.

I think you're missing the point...it's the retirement timing that is the thing

The average age for a retiring SCOTUS Judge is 78. Justice Kennedy is 82. But “conspiracy”. Understand.. I think Trump is a fool - but taking this sort of thing seriously just diminishes those who criticize him for real things that are demonstrable. “Tinfoil Hatting” IMHO.

Possible? Sure. A normal retirement 4 years beyond the average for sitting SCOTUS Judges? At least as possible.

Doesn’t make me right. I just get the sense that more and more people are shutting off the MSM because it seems more like they are political advocates than checks on power.

These two are a given: 1) This is old news 2) It didn't prompt Kennedy to resign or recuse himself from any POTUS-related matters However, are there potential matters before the court in the foreseeable future Kennedy WOULD need to recuse from? Any involving Trump directly.

Again I don't disagree on broader issues. Just narrowly noting your implication of a "coincidence" in retirement->stories timing, which is inherently explicable by those reporting on the former exhuming the latter. And fwiw, I missed the story first time around myself.

Generally, a writer would seek comment even when the underlying reporting is largely known though... That’s a bit of a wildcard. A call from the NYT about the piece they’re running tends to get your attention. Though I doubt they would call Kennedy himself.

Wouldn’t surprise me if Trump and his cronies at NYT forced Kennedy to resign so he could stack SCOTUS before midterm elections. The mob uses people until they are no longer useful, then burns them.

This story should have been out in 2016, not 2018.

June 17, 2015, the day after he stepped off that escalator. So many balls were dropped that day it is not funny anymore.

No one took him seriously. That was the first mistake.

So is it because 1)He'd have to recuse himself in trump matters and trump needs someone to rule that he can pardon himself 2) He made a bargain, you pardon my son and I'll retire ....