ANALYSIS: TRUE. The Left’s Spite Against Justice Kennedy Should Warn Anyone Who Tries To Please Them.

The highest-profile complaint comes from Jim Obergefell, the plaintiff in the Supreme Court case legalizing same-sex marriage, in an opinion authored by Kennedy. Writing for Time magazine, Obergefell seems to think Kennedy owed people a duty beyond the oath of his office: “I struggle to understand how Justice Kennedy can look at our current environment and retire, knowing that his legacy of compassion and dignity, not to mention the civil rights of millions of people, are in serious risk.”

He adds: “Before his retirement announcement, as a member of the LGBTQ community, I saw Kennedy as something of a hero,” with the implication that he is not now. That’s some way to thank Kennedy for his service.

In a column at Slate, “Anthony Kennedy Just Destroyed His Legacy as a Gay Rights Hero,” Mark Joseph Stern makes overt what Obergefell implies: if Kennedy wanted to protect his legacy, he had a duty to retire while a Democrat occupied the White House.

At The New Republic, Andrew Cohen begrudgingly acknowledges that Kennedy’s decisions on LGBTQ preferences, abortion, and criminal procedure “did deliver votes on occasion to progressive causes.” But Cohen’s main thrust is that “these liberal ‘victories’ are far overshadowed by all the heavy lifting Kennedy did on behalf of conservative causes over the decades.”

Similarly sour sentiments run through the reactions of a number of prestigious law professors Politico surveyed, including Geoffrey R. Stone, Sanford V. Levinson, Corey Brettschneider, Michael Waldman, Robert Post, Barry Friedman, and John Culhane.

“How dare an old man enjoy a well-earned retirement before I’m done with him?” isn’t the sentiment of someone who can long be pleased by anything or anyone.