IT'S OFFICIAL - STEVENS TO RETIRE FROM SUPREME COURT

From the New York Times:

Associate Justice John Paul Stevens, leader of the liberal wing of the Supreme Court, announced on Friday that he would retire at the end of this term, setting up a confirmation battle over his replacement that is virtually certain to dominate the political scene this summer.

In a brief letter to President Obama, whom he addressed as “my dear Mr. President,” Justice Stevens said he was announcing his retirement now because he had “concluded that it would be in the best interests of the Court to have my successor appointed and confirmed well in advance of the commencement of the Court’s next term” in October.

We will miss you, my dear Justice Stevens, especially because:

Confronted with a court far more conservative than the one he joined, Justice Stevens showed the world what his colleagues already knew: that beneath his amiable manner lay a canny strategist and master tactician, qualities he used to win victories that a simple liberal-conservative head count would appear to be impossible. A frequent dissenter even in his early years on the court, he now wrote more blunt and passionate opinions, explaining on several occasions that the nation was best served by an open airing of disagreements.

And there he is pictured with Chief Justice Roberts who, with respect to his service as a justice in the highest court in the land, is not fit to loose Justice Stevens' sandal.

There. I said it - the first thought that came to mind when I saw the picture of the two together.