Late last week a mushroom cloud exploded over Washington when long-time U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy went to the White House and submitted his resignation letter in person to President Donald Trump.

Kennedy, 81, met privately with the president in the Oval Office to announce his impending retirement from the high court on July 31.

President Trump said Friday he would be conducting interviews with prospective nominees and he is expected to announce Kennedy’s replacement on or before July 9 — followed by U.S. Senate confirmation hearings that are expected to get downright “vicious.”

Shortly before President Trump nominated Neil Gorsuch last year for the high court, the president released a list of 25 names he would select from to pick his next Supreme Court nomination. Gorsuch was on that list that now numbers 24 names.

Hopefully President Trump will select a strict, hard-nosed constitutionalist that follows the rule of law not influenced by liberal or conservative bias. It’s the Supreme Court’s highest honor to interpret the original intent of the Constitution of the United States of America and apply their rulings uniformly without regard to race, religion, sexual orientation or political leanings. “Equal Justice Under Law” is engraved in stone on the front of the U.S. Supreme Court Building in Washington.

The Democrats wasted no time in getting themselves all worked up. Organized protests already are being planned despite no announcement, so no matter whom President Trump picks — this next nominee will be opposed by the liberal left. The Democrats will do whatever they can to delay, resist and obstruct the confirmation process in the U.S. Senate and attempt to deny this nominee — no matter how qualified he or she may be.

House Minority Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) are both on record claiming that no replacement justice should be confirmed by the Senate until after the mid-term elections in November, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said the Senate will conduct confirmation hearings with the goal of seating the new justice by the time the high court reconvenes in early October.

Liberals are calling for a million or more protesters to flock to the U.S. Capitol Building and block senators from entering the Senate chamber to conduct confirmation hearings. Such a move would certainly be a shout out to Capitol Police and other cops to get geared up with riot gear and some tear gas bombs. This confrontation could get ugly.

News reports say President Trump’s short list contains five names – all are current federal appeals court judges from around the country with four men and one woman. Two of these five were previously interviewed by the president before he selected Gorsuch. The oldest of the five is 53.

This past weekend saw demonstrations in cities around the country protesting the situation at the southern border with the usual band of liberals whining about children separated from parents who entered the USA illegally and were jailed. In a week or two it will be the same bunch out on the streets of New York, Chicago and San Francisco and in front of the U.S. Supreme Court and the U.S. Capitol worshiping their anti-Trump hatred while wearing their pink vagina hats and carrying protest signs with the mantra-of-the-day.

Meanwhile, President Trump needs to keep his Supreme Court list handy because Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg is 85 while Justice Stephen Breyer is 79 not to mention Justice Clarence Thomas is 70.

President Trump is about to make his second Supreme Court nomination in his first 18-months in office. But with Father Time and the odds of life this president more than likely will make two more nominations to the high court during his presidency assuming he is reelected in 2020.

Democrats will lose a lot of voters the more they obstruct and delay this Supreme Court nomination like they are obstructing everything else President Trump is doing. Nov. 6 is closing in on the liberals who appear dumber with each passing day.

About the Author Britt Nelson relocated to Costa Rica in 2011 from Florida, where he served as news editor for the Palatka Daily News, a newspaper owned by the New York Times Regional Newspaper Group (NYT-RNG) for 20 years.

Nelson served the NYT-RNG for 18 years in Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina and Florida as a correspondent, reporter, staff writer, senior staff writer training new reporters, copy editor, page designer, editorial writer, editorial page editor and editorial board member.