happy 4th, but watch your step...

"This is one of those moments in American history," said Ralph G. Neas, president of the liberal People for the American Way. "No matter what side you're on, everything you've believed in, everything you've cared about, everything you've fought for is at stake. It's such a closely divided court."

a brief lesson in politics:
for those of you who think that the court does nothing, that is entirely untrue.

"This is enormous," said Senator Feinstein, one of many trying to adjust to retirement by Justice O'Connor rather than Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist. "It's different from Rehnquist. It is enormous."

the court has the final say on constitutional interpretation and can truly set the tone of the nation. allow me to explain the current situation at hand w/o all the jargon-
justice o'connor, as the first female appointed to the high court, is often referred to as the swing vote. this basically means that she's not a shoe in. she is seen as more contemplative and less likely to stick strictly to party allegiances and so on. women and minorities identify with her.
not only is her retirement unexpected at this point in time, but it gives the president the opportunity to replace her with a hardline conservative. while even some republicans are arguing that it would be a mistake to do so, many of bush's other nominees have been just this. women's groups are arguing that one more conservative on the bench would equal the end of roe v. wade. minority groups feel that they are losing someone they could identify with on the bench.
with an expected retirement from chief justice rehnquist, this means that the president will be able to appoint two members to the bench. in doing so, he can appoint someone entirely new to the chief justice position, or bump up someone he digs like say, scalia, a ridiculous conservative who i'm pretty sure identifies himself as taking the constitution only for what it says and nothing more, ie not leaving room for modern day interpretations, but merely depending on a 200 yr old vision of some dudes who could have never anticipated all that we face today.
in any case, the justices may only appear to be nine folks sittin' up on a big ol' bench, but their ideals and moral values inevitably effect us all. replacing o'connor with a downright conservative would limit debate, and in turn, lessen the humanitarian contemplation which many hope to see in such a governing body.
it is a big deal, kids. the court holds the thermostat for the nation. let's be weary of letting a frigid newbie bitch about the fluctuations effecting our electric bill.