Supreme Failure

I have, on one more than one occasion, pointed out that the Gummint (which polls assert the populace hate, well until the populace needs something, see Gulf Coast) which put us in this mess took some time to get us here. I start counting with Reagan, although one might start with Nixon, but Reagan makes for a neater cut and eliminates the OPEC oil embargo anomaly. I have pointed out that for the 28 years from the start of Reagan to the end of Bush II, the Right Wingnuts held at least 2 of the 3 elected branches of government for 22. Not having put in the effort to quantify, I have guessed that the Supreme Court was in the Right Wingnuts' pocket since at least Burger.

The just retired justice Stevens had this to say:
"Including myself, every judge who's been appointed to the court since Lewis Powell has been more conservative than his or her predecessor. Except maybe Justice Ginsburg. That's bound to have an effect on the court."

For a very detailed dissection of the fall, see this article.