Scalito

Didn't i tell you that the next Supreme Court nominee was going to be worse than Harriet Miers. The President nominated Sam Alito to be the Justice that replaces Sandra Day O'Connor in the High Court. Alito is such a strict constructionist that he has earned the nickname "Scalito" during his 15 years on the 3rd circuit court of appeals.

Alito faces what would seem to be a tough fight in the Senate. With the what would hopefully be a long filibuster by the Democratic senators. The harsh reality of it is that 8 out of 10 Supreme Court nominees are confirmed by the senate. (Regardless of the pity party that Robert Bork likes to throw himself)

Assuming that Alito is confirmed that leaves a clear 5-4 separation in the court. On top of that, most of those 5 aren't moderate conservative justices. Scalia, Thomas and Alito are all hard core right wingers that interpret the Constitution in a very conservative manner. (Don't let Scalia's rhetoric fool you, what he's doing is every bit as interpretive as what Ruth Ginsburg would do.)

So where does that leave the court? Roe is almost certain to come up where it would most likely be overturned or at least drastically limited. But there are other issues that would come up tha are just as important to the nation. Clarence Thomas has made no secret about his feelings about affirmative action. Scalia has said that he doesn't believe in substantive due process. Alito has favored law enforcement in search and seizure cases.

So in my humble opinion this will be this presidents legacy. Dramatically shifting the balance of power in the high court. Which will in turn hand down opinions that will echo in the halls of time. There aren't term limits in the Court, these guys are going to be there for a while. (I say "guys" because the president has elected not to nominate a woman to replace the retiring O'Connor.)