The president will have another opportunity to fill a vacancy on the United States Supreme Court.  Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, the leader of the left-wing bloc on the court, announced his retirement last week.  The balance of the court will not be changed since there still will be four commited liberals and four commited conservatives and a swing vote, Justice Anthony Kennedy.  As an aside, it is interesting to note that far too frequently, a number of Republican nominees, who are touted as conservatives at the time of their nomination, ultimately turn out to be liberals, as in the case with David Souter, Earl Warren and John Paul Stevens.  

The liberal Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Patrick Leahy, is already spinning on national television and warning the Republicans not to filibuster Obama's nominee.  He was quoted on NBC's "Meet the Press" last Sunday, with regards to a possible Republican filibuster: "That's actually the lazy person's way out. The American people pay us and elect us to vote yes or no, not to vote maybe.  Every time you have a filibuster, you're saying 'I'm not going to vote yes or no; I'm going to vote maybe.'  That's irresponsible."   

This statement is from a Senator who, for a good part of a year, filibustered Miguel Estrada, a highly qualified U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals nominee of President George W. Bush.   

Virtually all of the possible nominees whose names are being bandied about in the media and amongst talking heads have track records which show that they will legislate from the bench.  The American people are sick and tired of left-wing judges legislating from the bench and arbitrarily deciding how Americans should live, work, play and pray, especially on the Supreme Court.  They will be closely watching this nomination battle, especially so close to the mid-term elections this November.   

The Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee need to put up a principled fight in stopping any Obama nominee who has a record which indicates that he or she will be a judicial tyrant on the bench.  And if that nominee gets a vote on the Senate floor, the 41 Republicans will be able to, and should, block the nomination.  The American people are paying attention as the battle to defeat Obamacare showed.   

Yesterday, in "The Washington Times," an anonymous Republican aide was quoted:  "Are Dems really up for another fight, especially over a liberal, when they've been bleeding independents for a year and not talking about jobs?"  As indicated by Senator Leahy's remarks, they probably are up for another fight.  The Republicans have a golden opportunity to show that they are on the side of the American people in opposing left-wing judges legislating from the bench.  Their success at the polls this November depends on it.