When it comes to the U.S. Supreme Court, liberals are always ready and willing to eat their own.
That couldn't be proven any stronger than a recent piece in The Atlantic urging Justice Sonia Sotomayor to retire before President Joe Biden possibly misses a chance to replace her with a "young, reliably liberal" justice.
Many on the left have pushed for Sotomayor to hang up her black robe in the wake of certain comments she's made about her job, some of her recent rulings, and her overall health.
They're afraid that if she doesn't step down now under Biden's presidency she'll be replaced with yet another conservative justice if Donald Trump wins the White House again later this year.
Politics writer Josh Barro began his piece by describing what happened after Justice Antonin Scalia died in 2016 and how then-President Barack Obama wanted to appoint Merrick Garland to the high court.
That plan was foiled by then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who refused to hold a confirmation vote in the upper chamber. Of course, Trump won the election later that year and was able to nominate Justice Neil Gorsuch instead.
The point is that they're scared to death of Trump winning this year and something happening to Sotomayor, which would give Trump an ultra-unprecedented fourth SCOTUS pick, making the bench a 7-2 conservative majority.
"Sonia Sotomayor will turn 70 this June. If she retires this year, Biden will nominate a young and reliably liberal judge to replace her. Republicans do not control the Senate floor and cannot force the seat to be held open like they did when Scalia died," Barro wrote.
He added, "Confirmation of the new justice will be a slam dunk, and liberals will have successfully shored up one of their seats on the court — playing the kind of defense that is smart and prudent when your only hope of controlling the court again relies on both the timing of the deaths or retirements of conservative judges, plus not losing your grip on the three seats you already hold."
Sotomayor is a diabetic with several health issues. A bombshell report earlier this year revealed that she has had medics travel with her on certain trips.
While it's true that Democrats could retain the White House in November, it's not a gamble that many liberals -- especially those bent out of shape about "abortion rights" -- are willing to put their money on.
"I thought Democrats had learned some lessons from the Ruth Bader Ginsburg episode about the importance of playing defense on a court where you don’t hold the majority," Barro wrote.
Only time will tell if their pressure campaign forces Sotomayor out before November.
