About that Supreme Court retirement…

I mentioned earlier this week that the media had practically planned Chief Justice William Rehnquist’s retirement party. One foot was already out the door.

Today, however, we get word from USA Today’s Joan Biskupic that there are plenty of signs that Rehnquist’s imminent departure, rumored to be literally just two weeks away, may have been exaggerated.

“[The justice who is the focus of most of the retirement talk seems in no hurry to exit the stage,” USA Today reported, adding that Rehnquist has “hired a staff for the court’s next annual term” and “scheduled a hearing on a key campaign-finance dispute for Sept. 8,” indications that suggest the 78-year-old chief justice might not be retiring quite yet.

So how does one interpret these developments? Simply put, you don’t. There may be three retirements in the next year and a half or there could be none. Time will tell.