One less thing to worry about

Shorter William Rehnquist: "I ain't dead yet."

Chief Justice William Rehnquist says he has no plans to step down from the Supreme Court and will continue to serve as long as he can. "I am not about to announce my retirement. I will continue to perform my duties as chief justice as long as my health permits," Rehnquist said Thursday night in a written statement issued hours after he returned home from a hospital.

Can he outlast the lame duck days of Bush? Who knows? He's far from being the oldest person to ever hold that seat. Also, neither he, his spokesperson, nor his medical professionals have ever commented on the specifics of which type of thyroid cancer he has or what specific treatment regimin he is undergoing. A lot of people recover from several forms of cancer these days, and I'm pretty sure that somebody of Rehnquist's stature is getting the very best care possible. He may just come out one day, have his doctors pronounce him completely in remission, and go back to work for another twenty years.

Is this good or bad? You may not care much for Rehnquist's more conservative moments, but let's face it... there are far worse out there waiting in the wings. And Bush is almost guaranteed to pick one of them. Personally, I'd be happy to see the old fellow pull off a full recovery. He was appointed for life, and he's not dead. Let's let the choice of his departure come down to a conversation between him and his god.

His move to go public about his intentions may have been spurred by this story. Four Senators from both sides of the aisle (including some of my personal favorites, by the way) wrote a letter this week to Sandra Day O'Conner asking her to reconsider her decision to retire and come back as the Chief Justice. That might have ticked off old Rehnquist a little.

In a copy of the letter obtained by CNN, Sens. Barbara Boxer, D-California, Mary Landrieu, D-Louisiana, Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, urged the 75-year-old jurist to return to the court as the chief justice of the United States to avoid what could be a messy confirmation fight over her successor.

"As United States senators with the constitutional responsibility of 'advice and consent,' we would strongly recommend to President Bush that he nominate you as chief justice," the letter said.

"You are an extraordinary jurist who has served on the court since 1981. You possess moderation, dignity and integrity, and have demonstrated the highest standards of legal excellence.

"We believe such a history-making nomination by the president would demonstrate leadership that unites Americans around the shared values of liberty, the rule of law, and the preservation of our constitutional freedoms.

"We hope that you will give our request the serious consideration it deserves, should there be a vacancy for chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court."

I'll be the first to admit that I'd love to see O'Connor as Chief Justice. Certainly a better choice than Gonzales. But I also think that these Senators need to keep the context of O'Connor's resignation in mind. She has a severely ill husband to care for and seems to be focusing on that right now. It might be a bit selfish to ask her to give up her devotion to her family to continue serving the public when she's already given so many years.