The Democrats Have A Choice...Fire All Of Their The Guns Now, Or Wait...

This should be an easy call, but with the lunatics gleefully running the Democratic aisle of the asylum nothing is straightforward.

The smart move would be for them to make the usual protestations over the appointment of John Roberts, and save their powder for the bigger battle. Roberts trumps O'Conner bigtime because she was moving left and lefter, and if yet another young conservative comes along to take over from Rehnquist, the Democrats are in big trouble. People forget that Rehnquist was mellowing, no longer a firebrand, and his replacement means another fighter joins the cause.

But who ever accused the Dems of being smart. The pressure will on the usual suspects to make total fools of themselves during the Roberts hearings, but the public isn't going to sit still for two kangaroo courts in a row. One or the other; fight Roberts now or wait for the next nomination to come down the pike and take THAT one to the mattresses.

And don't for a nanosecond believe that the White House didn't have a pretty good idea of how much time Rhenquist had left. Roberts was supposed to be the relatively easy sell, the shoo-in, but they've known all along that the bigger battle was just around the corner.

The President waits a week or so until the Roberts hearings are well underway, and then he announces his choice to replace the Chief Justice. A person, or at least narrowed down to persons that he's been thinking about for months. And don't be surprised if THIS nominee is a firebrand conservative to beat all. What does Bush have to lose? WHOEVER he picks will be vilified and smeared, but diverting the liberal media's attention between Roberts and the new guy or gal will be a plus.

Picture it; the NY Times and The Washington Post doing battle to see who can better promote whatever bilgewater Schumer or Kennedy is spewing, while at the same time trying to give enough attention to a new nominee. And how can they pummel us with distortion after distortion when their OWN resources are cut in half? When you've got nothing of substance to offer, the way to win is through attrition. To wear the opposition down by a constant barrage of vilifications that eventually erode even people of good will down to a nub.

But they can't fight as strongly on two fronts, so the smart money says they let Roberts slide somewhat and stock up for the real war.