A Waco Farmer votes "Aye."

Why?

[The President] shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint...judges of the Supreme Court....

Presidential elections matter. The Constitution, which we hold so dear, lays all this out quite clearly. The people elect a president, and he nominates justices to the Supreme Court. The Senate has a say--but, barring extraordinary circumstances, this is manifestly a presidential prerogative.

Enough said.

That is not how the Democrats play it!?!

Not the point. Our job is to abide by the obvious intent of the framers. The egregious partisan antics employed by the opposition over the past twenty-five years has done great damage to the judiciary. The fruits of their unforgivable political vandalism provide a stark lesson on why we should do the right thing--not a license to respond in kind.

Elections matter. Choke it down and go on. Losing should hurt.

How disastrous is this pick, really? Relax.
This is not the death knell of the Republic.

Sotomayor does not change the game. Right now right-wing bloggers and talkers are breathlessly painting her as an incompetent radical. This is most likely a wild exaggeration. But, even if it is spot on, so what? Does anyone really think her voting record will be that much different from David Souter's.

Best Case Scenario: she is just another liberal jurist in the mold of Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer. You win some; you lose some.

Worse Case Scenario: if by chance, she does turn out to be a wild-eyed racist radical, she will be an embarrassment to the Obama administration--and, more importantly, a crucial rallying point for the coming Republican resurgence. The public will not appreciate a fanatical loudmouth throwing her weight around on the Court. Trust me. If she is half as bad as Rush Limbaugh and Mark Levin claim she is, this the best thing that has happened to us politically in 121 days.

Relax. Make your case. Be lucid, rational, and polite. Use this episode as a teaching moment. But avoid unhinged diatribes in which we predict a whole slew of outlandish horrors that are very unlikely to come to pass (at least not on a timetable rapid enough to provide vindication).