I am ambivalent about Garland. It seems likely that he is a stalking horse, to tease the Repuglitards out of their stalls - but what if he gets accepted? A Republican himself with extremely authoritarian views on law and order. But he is older than most appointees. Maybe Obama knows something about his health that we do not, implying that IF the logjam is broken a sensible progressive judge might get onto the bench.

There again there is the religious makeup. Garland would make the bench 5 Catholics and 4 Jews (am I right?) and therefore no other religion, nor atheism, represented. This MUST be bad with the pressure on the system from the evangelical right.

Then again there is the racial makeup. From Wikipedia - "Many ethnic groups have never been represented on the Court. There has never been a Justice with any Asian, Native American, or Pacific Islander heritage, and no person having such a heritage was publicly considered for an appointment until the 21st century. Legal scholar Viet D. Dinh, of Vietnamese descent, was named as a potential George W. Bush nominee.[43] During the presidency of Barack Obama, potential nominees have included Harold Hongju Koh, of Korean descent, and former Idaho attorney general Larry EchoHawk, a member of the Pawnee tribe.[44]"

This looks like a very sick society.