Often I hear Democrats carp about the Court's rightward shift. But we have no room to complain. Our own Democratic senators put those justices on the Court, whether by affirmation or acquiescence. Our own people dealt the cards; now we are left to play the hand.
The stakes will even higher in future than in past confirmations. On the table will be issues ranging from the limits of executive power to freedom of choice to capital punishment to restoring or preserving our First, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Eighth Amendment rights. And justices confirmed in the next few years may still be on the Court when the next president's successor's successor steps down.
Democratic Party leaders ask us to unite to elect Obama front this fall and I will do my part. I will stick with you now. But in return you must stick with each other and with us when unity will really count again when it's time to vote on Supreme Court nominations.
Just as we cannot afford to lose this November's election, so can we not afford to lose the judicial perspectives of Justices like John Paul Stevens, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and others. It will be up to Senate Democrats to make sure that does not happen.
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