Supreme Court: "the coming presidential election will determine its future path"

Not that most of us aren't aware of the implications for the presidential elections, but, a front page article in today's Washington Post lays out one of the most basic and critical impacts. The future of the Supreme Court is at stake in the presidential election:

But as justices finished their work last week, two overarching truths about the court remained unchanged: It is sharply divided ideologically on some of the most fundamental constitutional questions, and the coming presidential election will determine its future path.

A victory by the presumptive Democratic nominee, Barack Obama, would probably mean preserving the uneasy but roughly balanced status quo, since the justices who are considered most likely to retire are liberal. A win for his Republican counterpart, John McCain, could mean a fundamental shift to a consistently conservative majority ready to take on past court rulings on abortion rights, affirmative action and other issues important to the right.

"Could mean"? Duh. A McCain presidency would mean a fundamental shift to the right. Just watch the way he pandered to the right wing last week.

Stark choice. But, it's not that complicated. If rights matter, vote Obama. If rights don't matter -- and if taking rights away from Americans is acceptable, vote McCain. This election really matters to anyone whose rights are in danger (you know, like, women, gays, minorities, union members....to name a few.)