At perhaps the most critical and defining moment of his presidency, George W. Bush came through. In the midst of a wildly exaggerated Valerie Plame �scandal,� and having been dealt an apparent defeat with the withdrawal of Harriet Miers, President Bush nonetheless came out swinging on Monday, nominating Samuel Alito to fill Sandra O�Connor's seat on the high court.

By making such a bold choice, President Bush not only rallied a wavering and disillusioned conservative base, he again bolstered the concept of a Supreme Court whose ultimate purpose it is to uphold and defend the integrity of the United States Constitution as originally written and amended.

Gone are the insipid Republican assertions, which dominated the debate only a few months ago, that the role of the Senate was to ensure a president �gets his choice of appointees� for the courts. Instead, the issue has been entirely framed in the context of a worthy Republican/conservative fight to restore the Constitution�s preeminence as the basis for law and justice in America. And by this choice, the President stands to accomplish the latter while reaping the former.

To nobody�s great surprise, the left is gearing up for war. But it is a war that they cannot win, as long as Republicans in Washington remain faithful to the conservative principles that brought them to power nearly a dozen years ago. Conversely, a Republican surrender will yield an immediate firestorm from the base, the likes of which have rarely been seen on the right side of the aisle.

So far however, liberals have displayed little more than the shrill and hysterical (but wholly redundant) rhetoric with which they have tried in vain to convince America that the sky is once again �falling� at the vile hands of the Republicans.

Over the years, real harm has been inflicted by the courts attacks on the American lifestyle. And the alarmist rhetoric from the left sounds, at best, a bit empty in light of the Kelo decision, removal of Ten Commandments displays, and looming threats against the Pledge of Allegiance.

In an effort to pressure President Bush to nominate only liberal/activist jurists, New York Democrat Charles Schumer has attempted to negatively contrast Alito against the retiring O�Connor, characterizing her as a �uniter� of America. In reality, by her unrestrained judicial activism O�Connor greatly contributed to the devastation of Constitutional principle and thus deepened the fractures among Americans.

America needs a spirited and courageous debate on the proper role of the courts in our Constitutional Republic. More specifically, open discussion of Alito�s worthiness to fulfill that role virtually guarantees that, in the likely event of another vacated seat on the Supreme Court during the remainder of George Bush�s term, a pro-Constitution nominee will sail through to confirmation with relative ease. Thus can the nation be healed of the ravages of judicial activism.

On another front, the nomination of Alito has likely succeeded in �pigeonholing� the most disloyal Senate Republican, John McCain of Arizona. Last spring, McCain led the band of seven Republican �moderates� who, in concert with the Democrats, derailed efforts to break the unconstitutional filibuster of Bush�s judicial nominees.

Now, even the mere possibility of further duplicity has conservatives incensed. South Carolina Republican Lindsay Graham, one of the �dirty seven,� recognizes the rumblings of conservative insurrection back home. Not wanting to be greeted by the tar and feathers that would surely await him if he once again proves to be a turncoat, Graham has already made it plain that he will not participate in another betrayal.

Despite his delusional assertions that any new nominee must pass muster with the fourteen �moderates,� McCain finds himself in a position where he must either support the nomination, or incur universal wrath from the conservatives.

He must now stand with those who intend to see the Constitution reduced to an irrelevant historical relic, or follow the President�s lead. Either way, his self-absorbed belief of being the �moderate leader� (a contradiction of terms if ever there was one) has been obliterated.

Emboldened by McCain�s treachery, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D.-NV) has, since last June, promoted a thoroughly distorted version of the appointment process. He arrogantly claims that he should initiate the process by compiling a list of �acceptable� candidates from which the President may choose.

But by this pick, President Bush pulled off an �end run� around the perpetually self-aggrandizing Reid. The sun is rising once again over the American Republic.