It would be nice if Democrats didn’t have to play the game that Republicans play.

Mitch McConnell famously said that his proudest moment in Washington was holding Scalia’s seat open for a Trump appointment which resulted in Gorsuch. Given Merrick Garland’s inaction at the Justice, decide among yourselves whether that was a gain or loss. What we know for a fact is that there were very very odd circumstances surrounding Justice Kennedy’s retirement, the swing vote. Very odd.

As a result, we got young Brett Kavanaugh, a man who is on the SCOTUS for one reason alone. Ten years ago, he wrote a law review article in which he wrote that a president cannot be investigated while president. None of the other 20 candidates sent to Trump’s desk had written such a preposterous statement.

Kavanaugh was in. It’s always about Trump. Oh, and Kavanaugh is on the Court under some damned strange circumstances, we’ll leave it at that. He likely lied during his hearings.

Ruth Bader-Ginsberg fought like a champion until her last breath. She probably wanted to join her husband for 18 months prior to her passing. But she damned sure wasn’t going to let Trump appoint her successor. She likely thought she made it. Just weeks ahead of the election… even McConnell couldn’t…

It is time to play like the Republicans. It is time for Stephen Breyer to retire. He’s a beautiful soul, always on the right side of the issues, and we wish he could be a Justice for another 50 years. But he doesn’t have another 50 years. We need someone who does have forty years to stare down Brett Kavanaugh, who is hated even by Gorsuch and Roberts (so the reports go). Even Justice Amy Coney-Barett is disappointing some on the Right (she will not when it comes to abortion, but abortion isn’t the only important issue that comes before the SCOTUS.)

No, it’s Kavanaugh who needs to be stared down by a 40-year-old woman, two times as smart as him, and ten times more passionate. Kavanaugh has the problems, we can almost feel it. He owes someone. We wonder if Breyer has figured this out. A piece came out in the NYT today that concerns us, a tiny bit. If the Republicans take the Senate in 2022, they will not vote upon a Democratic nomination, period. That’s the new McConnell rule. No SCOTUS justices unless the president and the Senate are from the same party. We have one year.

And we’re not sure Breyer gets it. Breyer recalled a quote by Justice Scalia and commented on it:

“He said, ‘I don’t want somebody appointed who will just reverse everything I’ve done for the last 25 years,’” Justice Breyer said during a wide-ranging interview on Thursday. “That will inevitably be in the psychology” of his decision, he said.

Mr. Justice Breyer, that means you retire this summer. Period. Next summer is too busy. Do it this summer. If you want to be assured, you do it now.

The justice tried to sum up the factors that would go into his decision. “There are a lot of blurred things there, and there are many considerations,” he said. “They form a whole. I’ll make a decision.”

We are certain there are a lot of blurred things in his mind and what he’d prefer to do. But one thing is crystal clear. If he wants his legacy to be anything but giving the conservatives the SCOTUS for 50 years and thus overturning liberal legislation just like they almost did with the ACA, he must retire this summer. That much is crystal clear.

He paused, then added: “I don’t like making decisions about myself.”

Perfect. Because as much as we love and respect you, this isn’t about you. It is about the country and having one less Justice to overcome in the decades to come. Justice Thomas isn’t a young man. Justice Roberts seems to enjoy pissing Kavanaugh off. We need a third young liberal.

Justice Breyer, there really is no other choice. The Republicans have set the rules. They are awful rules, but democracy is on the line. Please retire in the next couple of months. Unlike every other justice, you don’t travel the world in the summer, playing celebrity, giving talks, all that. No, you go home to New England and live quietly, by yourself. We know you must love it. Treat yourself, you’ve earned it. Take the retirement.

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