President Bush has kept on his promise to re-appoint judges unconstitutionally blocked by Senate Democrats in his first term. Senate GOP Leader Bill Frist, looking to 2008, is asking Democrats for an up-or-down vote and Judiciary Chair Arlen Specter is already scheduling hearings for some of the nominees. Democrats, hell bent on obstruction, have signaled they intend to fight to the finish:

“The president looks like he is still more interested in picking fights than picking judges,” Kennedy said. “The last thing the federal courts need is reactionary judges bent on rolling back basic constitutional rights.”

As I’ve already mentioned, the GOP has plans to go “nuclear” next month with the nomination of Janice Rogers Brown. If the GOP was smart, they would change the rules for all judges except Supreme Court nominees and dare the Democrats to filibuster when a vacancy opens on the High Court. A high profile filibuster will further damage Democrats by exposing what they’ve become: the pathetic opposition.