DISPATCHES FROM THE ICE FLOE: Dem Senator Richard Blumenthal Turns Up the Heat On Justice Sotomayor to Retire: ‘Graveyards Are Full of Indispensable People.’

Speaking with NBC’s Sahil Kapur for a story published Wednesday, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) made a veiled reference to the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg — who ignored calls to step down for years during former President Barack Obama’s tenure. She passed away in 2020, with former President Donald Trump choosing her successor.

“I’m very respectful of Justice Sotomayor,” Blumenthal told NBC. “I have great admiration for her. But I think she really has to weigh the competing factors. We should learn a lesson. And it’s not like there’s any mystery here about what the lesson should be. The old saying — graveyards are full of indispensable people, ourselves in this body included.”

The idea of the 69-year-old Sotomayor stepping down has gained momentum in recent days. Former MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan made the argument for the justice to retire in a recent column for The Guardian.

CTRL-F, Blumenthal’s age on the Mediaite article brings back zero results. Or as Jim Geraghty writes: Really Old Senator Tries to Convince Less Old Justice That She’s Too Old to Stay at Work.

Oh, Blumenthal thinks Sotomayor is too old to remain as a Supreme Court justice, huh?

Blumenthal turned 78 in February. Sotomayor is 69 years old. And while Sotomayor has diabetes and travels with a medic, her mother lived to be 94.

Look, I’m as appalled as anybody else at what Blumenthal is saying, but we should probably cut him some slack, as old men tend to ramble and get confused. Or maybe he’s just having a traumatic flashback from Vietnam.

Flashback: The Democratic Party’s Ice Floe Politics.