In the latest example of President Obama's confrontational approach to his opposition, a senior White House official said of plans to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, "The president recognizes that regardless of who he picks, there will be a fight. So the prospect of a fight with Republicans doesn’t factor into his decision about one candidate over another, whether one candidate is going to galvanize Republicans or whether another is a more risky choice in some way." (source)

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Of course the president has no official obligation to choose a nominee that would be acceptable to Republicans and he may very well be able to win a confirmation fight for a "galvanizing" choice. But, as he has time and time again since taking office, Mr. Obama will most likely ignore approximately half of the American people; the millions who agree with those Republicans he has sworn to serve.

In the big scheme of things, replacing the liberal Justice Stevens with another liberal will have little effect on the close rulings of the Supreme Court. But this president seems to be carrying his "remaking of America" plan to the high court. According to that same senior official, "He’s less interested in someone who can have an ideological fight than someone who is capable of building coalitions to make decisions that fall in line with what the president thinks is the proper role for the court."

Let's examine that statement:

Less ideological? Since anyone Mr. Obama nominates will be a liberal, ideology becomes irrelevant when choosing between those on the short list. This of course, would be true of any president regardless of party.

Capable of building coalitions? Certainly part of the qualifications of any good justice on the court as the majority opinion carries the day on every case.

Fall in line with what the president thinks is the proper role for the court? And there it is. President Obama does not want a nominee who will apply the law fairly and without bias. He wants one who will fall in line and help him determine the proper role for the court. Forget about that pesky Constitution that has defined that role for over 200 years. No, Barack Obama knows what the proper role should be and is looking to nominate someone who will fall in line.

If that is the litmus test he plans on applying to candidates for the nomination, he'll get that fight he seems to want.