TONIGHT, TONIGHT, WE GET OUR JUDGE TONIGHT... – AT 9:45 A.M. ET:  Okay, okay, I apologize to the creators of "West Side Story" for my over-the-top headline.  But the excitement is building toward the president's announcement tonight, from the Oval Office, of his choice for the Supreme Court seat vacated by the death of Associate Justice Antonin Scalia.  From USA Today:

WASHINGTON — Nearly a full year after Justice Antonin Scalia's death left the Supreme Court shorthanded, President Trump is poised to nominate a replacement who's three decades younger, setting off a pitched battle over the direction of the nation's highest court.

Trump's nominee is set to be unveiled from the Oval Office at 8 p.m. Tuesday, with most attention focused on two federal appeals court judges from opposite sides of the country: Neil Gorsuch of Colorado and Thomas Hardiman of Pennsylvania.

Gorsuch, 49, is a Scalia acolyte who believes judges should interpret laws as they are written and enforce the Constitution as the nation's framers intended. He writes with a Scalia-like flair and has degrees from Columbia, Harvard and Oxford.

Hardiman, 51, is less widely known but has a Trump in his corner: The president's sister, Maryanne Trump Barry, sits with him on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit. He has a strong conservative record on issues affecting criminal law and the Second Amendment.

COMMENT:  I'd also consider the possibility of a surprise choice, although probably unlikely.  Either Gorsuch or Hardiman would add distinction to the Court, and would be a worthy successor to Scalia. 

Democrats, by the way, are already planning a protest at the Supreme Court following the president's announcement...even though they don't know who the choice will be.  It must be fun to be against everything.

January 31,  2017