Chief Justice William Rehnquist will not swear in President Bush on January 20, 2005

On October 25, the Supreme Court announced that Rehnquist would be presiding over the Supreme Court on November 1, the opening day of the current session.

On October 27, I wrote "don't count on it," because he would be far too ill after his then-recent surgery.

He did not appear on the bench on November 1.

On November 2 - Election day - I wrote that "he will probably never return."

He has not been seen in public since.

The reason Rehnquist won't swear in George Bush for his second term?

Most likely he will have died by then from his thyroid cancer.

Yesterday, December 13, court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg said the chief justice would reduce his workload significantly.

Various legal experts and law professors have weighed in on what this might mean, but they are clueless as to the nature of anaplastic thyroid cancer, the rapidly advancing, lethal form Rehnquist most likely has.

It grows so fast doctors can sometimes trace its advance daily by marking the skin over the edges of the tumor.

It is not a pleasant truth, but it is best to consider these things realistically.

Consider today's headlines:

The Washington Post's page 8 story headline:

Rehnquist Won't Vote in Every Case Heard This Term

The Wall Street Journal's page 4 story:

Rehnquist Indicates No Plans To Step Down From High Court

USA Today, on page 3:

Rehnquist Further Reduces Workload

These papers and their stories completely missed the likely events to come.

Stay tuned.