The political stars would have to align in order for a polarizing figure like President Barack Obama to follow in the heels of William Howard Taft and be appointed to serve as a Supreme Court justice; Obama would have to be succeeded by a fellow Democrat, a vacancy would have to arise, and the Senate would have to be dominated by Democrats to a point at which enough minority Republican members could be cajoled into joining a 60-vote majority confirming him.

Given these conditions, it seems highly unlikely that the Obama as SCOTUS justice scenario would come to pass. That did not stop CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin from broaching the issue toward the end of his lengthy interview with the president on the subject of Supreme Court appointments.

“As Marine One thundered overhead, about to land on the White House lawn and take Obama to a series of political fund-raisers,” Toobin wrote, setting a stage now draped in the trappings of power, “I asked him if, like William Howard Taft, he entertained thoughts of serving as a judge later in his career.”

Obama, while flattered, replied that he found a post-presidential appointment to the highest court in the land a tad too limiting.

**“When I got out of law school, I chose not to clerk,” he said. “Partly because I was an older student, but partly because I don’t think I have the temperament to sit in a chamber and write opinions.” But he sounded tempted by the idea.

“I love the law, intellectually,” Obama went on. “I love nutting out these problems, wrestling with these arguments. I love teaching. I miss the classroom and engaging with students. But I think being a Justice is a little bit too monastic for me. Particularly after having spent six years and what will be eight years in this bubble, I think I need to get outside a little bit more.” [Emphasis added]**

Townhall’s Kevin Glass summed the president’s self-agrandizing response perfectly:

@NoahCRothman That is A+ self-serving question-dodging. "I couldn't bear to limit myself *only* to being a Supreme Court Justice."

— Kevin W. Glass (@KevinWGlass) October 20, 2014

No one will be beating down Obama’s door to serve as a Supreme Court justice once he leaves office, even if all the unlikely conditions which might lead to his nomination arise. The president’s Shermanesque albeit preemptive rejection of the honor is probably unnecessary, but it does serve to polish what must be a rather wounded ego these days.

One cannot, however, rule out a draft. After all, the entertainment complex finds nothing so fascinating as Democratic politicians with an image in need of repair. In the same way that there is now a hit drama centered on a female Secretary of State who does things Her Way, a show which has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with Hillary Clinton, I would not be surprised to learn that a new drama centered on an ex-president (who is definitely not Barack Obama) swept onto the bench of the nation’s highest court is set to hit the small screen in the autumn of 2017.