Janice Rogers Brown

I seriously doubt GW has the gonads (or even the desire...) to appoint a real libertarian (classical "liberal") to the bench. That is, one who believes that civil liberties and economic liberties are one and the same. J.R. Brown seems to fit this mold. Here is an excerpt from a speech given in 2000:

And we no longer find slavery abhorrent. We embrace it. We demand more. Big government is not just the opiate of the masses. It is the opiate. The drug of choice for multinational corporations and single moms; for regulated industries and rugged Midwestern farmers and militant senior citizens.

Good stuff. Read the whole thing here.

If Judge Brown really believes what she preaches (and I think she does - why else would the anti-property rights left be so opposed to her??) then I am pencilling her in on my dream team list, just behind Posner and Kozinski.

UPDATE: Novak is reporting that Rehnquist will retire by the end of the week...