Time To Go

This is becoming a farce:

Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, denying rumors of his retirement, said Thursday he will continue heading the court as long his health permits. "I'm not about to announce my retirement," he said in a statement obtained by The Associated Press.

"I want to put to rest the speculation and unfounded rumors of my imminent retirement," said Rehnquist, 80, and ailing with thyroid cancer. "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 released the statement hours after being released from an Arlington, Va., hospital after being treated for two days with a fever.

Rehnquist, who has served 33 years on the court, continued coming to work every day even as rumors swept Washington that he was about to retire. The speculation intensified after Justice Sandra Day O'Connor announced her retirement earlier this month, a surprise move that fueled speculation that President Bush would soon have two vacancies to fill on the nine-person bench.

Rehnquist, who has been through at least one round of chemotherapy and radiation, surprised many people when he presided at Bush's inauguration in January and returned to the bench in March, keeping full a schedule.

Is Rehnquist serving anything besides his own vanity now?

It is poor policy to put the judiciary in the hands of the elderly and infirm. Funny how the folks so worried about Ronald Reagan's age and mental clarity have no issue with the tired old dinosaurs who now comprise the Supreme Court.

Is it any wonder their opinions are increasingly incoherent and vapid?

Would it be so terrible to bring the mean age down below the retirement age?