What do these men have in common?

We'll soon find out. With his first selection, the President went with an uninspired choice. The business community hand-picked John Roberts. Social conservatives went along, most did so reluctantly. During his testimony, Roberts made it abundantly clear that he did not fulfill the President's promise that he would select Justices in the mold of Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia. In particular, he endorsed substantive due process, which, loosely translated, means, "The Constitution is whatever the Supreme Court says it is." Most are convinced that John Roberts will not be willing to overturn Roe, and he went so far as to say that he supports the conclusion in Griswold, a decision that finds about as much support in the Constitution as Osama bin Laden finds in the Pentagon.

Let's review. In 1994, the Republicans took over both houses of Congress. In 2000, a Republican President was elected. For three of the last five years, Republicans controlled both houses of Congress and the White House.

• Abortion - Partial-birth abortion ban, Born Alive Infant Protection Act, Unborn Victims of Violence Act, Mexico City Policy. Nice, but only one of the above has actually saved any lives, and none of them has saved a single American child.
• Education - The Congress gutted the single most important part of the President's plan - school choice.
• Immigration - Nothing has been done to stem the tide of illegal immigration. The President has promoted amnesty.
• Marriage - States are increasingly recognizing gay marriages. The President has voiced support for an amendment to defend marriage, but has done nothing about it. Even many Republicans oppose a Defense of Marriage Amendment.
• Size of Government - Since Republicans took over Congress, not a single government department or program has been shut down. Knowing this, erstwhile House Majority Leader Tom DeLay recently said that we have cut all the fat that can be cut from the federal budget.
• Taxes - Some temporary cuts were enacted. No structural reform.
• War on Terror - There has been major progress. Syria, Iran, and North Korea all have or are continuing to develop nuclear weapons. Osama bin Laden is still at large. Neo-con themes have been substituted for legitimate national security reasons for invading Iraq.
• Welfare - This is the only domestic area in which there actually has been progress, as limitations were put on the number of years and consecutive months that people could receive benefits. It was enacted nearly a decade ago.

Push has come to shove. Conservatives aren't happy about the first pick. Short of someone whose record will not require private investigators to discern their views of the role of judges and the Constitution, the President will have done to conservatives the exact same thing as his father. We have already learned from Roberts and Souter that the Bush family cannot be trusted. Now, it is time to see just how bad they are.

Mark Levin put it well when he said simply, "We win, we pick. You win, you pick." The President's first selection suggests that he is of the mind, "I win, I pick." If that is going to be the attitude of Republican Presidents, then they can win on their own. The rest of us can take up golf, or skiing, or whatever else we can think of with our newly found free time. And, oh by the way, the President can kiss the rest of his agenda goodbye when his base leaves. His approval numbers have consistently bottomed out at 40%. That's his base. If the President blows this pick, if we even need to discuss whether the President blew this pick, the bottom will fall out. His numbers will plummet and he will be the lame duck many expected him to be.

We want the Court, and we want it now. So, Mr. President, Senator Frist, make it happen! Twist arms. Break them if necessary! Cut off all funding to the states of any Republican Senator who opposes the nominee. Sen. Dole, don't give a dime to support any Republican who does anything but sing the praises of the new nominee. Conservatives, strip Arlen Specter of his chairmanship at first opportunity if he doesn't serve as a battering ram to get the nominee through the Senate. If you blow this, kiss your base, and your majorities, goodbye.