Here is the bottom line: Barack Obama cannot be allowed to name the replacement for Antonin Scalia. A man who has at every turn ignored Congress’ constitutional prerogatives and unconstitutionally rammed his own agenda down the throats of Americans cannot be allowed to pick the person whose influence shaped the Federal judiciary more than any other over the last 30 years.

Obama’s reckless unilateral attempts at policymaking over the last 7 years show that he has no respect for the constitution, Congress, or even the rule of law, and is entitled to absolutely nothing from the Senate in terms of confirming one of his Supreme Court nominees.

Your Senators, especially if they are Republicans, will need reminding of this fact. Obama does have the press on his side, and we should expect them to carry his water relentlessly on this issue. We have seen time and time again that this bunch of weak-kneed quislings in the Senate need to feel their backs against the wall before they are willing to show even the slightest bit of backbone.

The surest way to shut this nonsense down quickly is to get your Senator on the record, publicly, saying that they will not vote to confirm any of Obama’s judicial nominees. I don’t care if Obama nominates Mike Lee to the Supreme Court, the Senate should publicly say that they will not confirm him. If Obama nominates anyone, McConnell should know that he has at least 54 united votes behind him so that he can schedule an immediate floor vote, without even hearings, to promptly get a “no” vote and send a message.

Tomorrow (UPDATE – make that Tuesday. I forgot that while the rest of us are working tomorrow, Senate staff will be off for one of the excessive holidays that they get) morning, first thing, get on the horn to your Senator. Call their office directly, or hit the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121. Keep calling back every day until your Senator is on record stating categorically that they will not vote to approve any Obama judicial nominee. Be relentless. Let them know that capitulating here will be a sin that will not be forgiven. Make sure that they are constantly hearing from their staff about the number and urgency of the calls they are getting on this issue.

Be ready to go to war, first thing tomorrow. And let’s end this war before it even properly begins.