Earlier today, Governor Phil Scott announced the appointment of two new Supreme Court justices to replace retiring Justices Karen Carroll and William Cohen. Carroll and Cohen were both Scott appointees, so the court will still have three Scott picks and one nominee each from Governors Shumlin and Douglas.
Both of the gov’s picks come from the Vermont U.S. Attorney’s office. I won’t comment on their merits as attorneys or future judges because 1) I’m not a legal expert and 2) I’m not a SCOVT (do people even say SCOVT?) watcher. One, Michael Drescher, is the First Assistant U.S. Attorney for Vermont and is currently running the office in the absence of an official appointment from President Trump. The other, no doubt familiar to readers of this blog and followers of #vtpoli, is the Honorable Christina Nolan, Esquire.
Wait, you cry, *that* Christina Nolan? “Mayonnaise and Meats” Christina Nolan? Yes, dear reader, *that* Christina Nolan. The future Justice Nolan was last seen on the political stage in 2022 when she lost the Republican primary for U.S. Senate to Gerald “DEPLOY” Malloy (he of simple yet arguably menacing eagle fame).
Quick sidebar, I’m watching the Channel 5 news as I write this and they just incorrectly asserted that Nolan lost to Peter Welch. She did not lose to Peter Welch because she lost the primary to Deploy Malloy. Deploy Malloy then lost to Peter Welch. The FAKE NEWS MEDIA strikes again!
Nolan ran a rather quiet campaign that was unnoteworthy in many respects. By far, the highlight was this video, posted on Twitter (futurely X): https://x.com/nolanforsenate/status/1532090612555649024
In the video, Nolan strongly denounced the soaring prices and shortages of condiments, like mayonnaise and meats, while…standing in front of a shelf full of mayonnaise. The moment exemplified Nolan’s faltering campaign – they stumbled out of the starting blocks despite having a strong early lead in fundraising, endorsements, and institutional support over Mr. DEPLOY, couldn’t connect with voters, and lost. Think about that. Somebody said “hey, let’s go to the mayonnaise aisle and film a video about how there’s no mayonnaise and mayonnaise costs too much,” and multiple other people said “sure, that’s a great idea, and let’s put it on Twitter!” After all that, a seat on the Supreme Court doesn’t seem like such a bad consolation prize.
So, let’s all hoist a spoon full of Hellman’s in honor of Vermont’s next Supreme Court justice!
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