by Rod D. Martin
January 31, 2017, 8:30pm

Donald Trump — in prime time, from the East Room — tonight announced Neil Gorsuch as his pick to replace Justice Antonin Scalia on the United States Supreme Court.

Gorsuch is 49 years old. By all appearances, he is a virtual clone, if younger, of Justice Scalia. He’s also one of the best qualified Supreme Court nominees ever named.

In one great stroke — and who has ever named a Supreme Court Justice on prime time TV? — Donald Trump has not only kept the central promise of his campaign and justified the most ardent hopes of his supporters, he has saved the nation from the socialist, anti-Christian revolution which Hillary Clinton was sworn to unleash.

Tonight, assuming all goes to plan, the American Experiment is saved.

You can thank three men for that. Certainly Donald Trump tops the list.

But we would be grossly remiss, and infinitely ungrateful, were we not to remember Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley. These two men found iron in their spines, and confronted with a balance-tipping Supreme Court vacancy, stood firm on their demand that the people decide who would fill it.

Many, myself included, have questioned and criticized these men through the years. But in this courage, they have more than redeemed themselves. They have joined the pantheon of the greatest among American heroes.

The fight ahead will be difficult. But it can be won. We might question that were it not for the resolve McConnell and Grassley have shown us this year. But that, combined with the Senate Democrats’ hubris in destroying the 60 vote rule, all but assures success.

One last point. Had conservatives not awakened from their slumber in 2014 and retaken the Senate, that anti-American revolution would have already been upon us for a year, not to be reversed. The November election just past would have mattered little. And likewise, had conservatives not rejected the strident, foolish call of their #NeverTrump brethren, tonight could not have happened.

There are many lessons in all of this. But above all else, there is deliverance. And we thank God above for parting our Red Sea.

Rod D. Martin
Grace Hall

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UPDATE: Take a moment to read this lecture by Judge Gorsuch, delivered this summer, entitled “Of Lions and Bears, Judges and Legislators, and the Legacy of Justice Scalia“. It is wonderful, and it bodes well for our future.

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UPDATE TWO: My friend Paul Teller just sent this over from the White House. If you want to know about the Judge, these are the facts you need. Please share them with your friends!

Judge Neil M. Gorsuch
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit

Neil M. Gorsuch has served for over a decade as a federal judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, building a nationally respected and distinguished judicial record and reputation.

Judge Gorsuch is a brilliant jurist with an outstanding intellect and a clear, incisive writing style. He is universally respected for his integrity, fairness, and decency. And he understands the role of judges is to interpret the law, not impose their own policy preferences, priorities, or ideologies.

Judge Gorsuch is a native Westerner and avid outdoorsman. He spent his childhood in Colorado and chose to return West to raise his family. He enjoys fishing, hiking, and skiing. And he and his wife care for animals, including a horse, in the small barn at their home. As a young man, he delivered papers and worked as a front desk clerk at a Howard Johnson to make extra money.

Judge Gorsuch has an impressive range of professional experience.

Judge Gorsuch was confirmed by the U.S. Senate without opposition on July 20, 2006, to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. Indeed, 11 current Democrat Senators—including Minority Leader Schumer, Sen. Leahy, and Sen. Feinstein—and 20 current Republican Senators were in office when Judge Gorsuch was confirmed by voice vote, without opposition. He received a “unanimously well qualified rating” by the American Bar Association.

Prior to serving on the court, Judge Gorsuch had extensive trial and appellate litigation experience as a practicing attorney, and then served his country the Department of Justice as the Principal Deputy Associate Attorney General in 2005. In that position he assisted in managing major aspects of the Department’s work in areas such as constitutional law, counterterrorism, environmental regulation, and civil rights.

Judge Gorsuch worked as an associate and partner at the law firm of Kellogg, Huber, Hansen, Todd, Evans & Figel, PLLC from 1995 to 2005.

Judge Gorsuch’s academic credentials are impeccable.

Judge Gorsuch attended Harvard Law School as a Harry Truman Scholar and graduated with honors in 1991. He graduated with honors from Columbia University in 1988, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. After law school, he attended Oxford University as a Marshall Scholar, and he received his Doctorate in Philosophy in 2004.

He clerked for Justice Byron White and Justice Kennedy of Supreme Court of the United States and Judge David Sentelle of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

Judge Gorsuch is a “judge’s judge” who decides cases based on the law, not personal policy preferences. He is not afraid to reach results contrary to his own policy views.

Judge Gorsuch once wrote that “a judge who likes every result he reaches is very likely a bad judge, reaching for results he prefers rather than those the law compels.”

He has great respect for Congress and the rule of law. As he has written, “statutes are a product of compromise” and their text must be respected.

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