In a New York Times report on preparations for the upcoming Supreme Court battle, Ralph Neas, the president of People for the American Way , is quoted making this irresponsible statement:

[Neas] declared that his group was not “looking for a fight” with Mr. Bush. But, referring to Justices Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia, he also said, “I’m sure that if he one more time chooses confrontation over collaboration and, say, if he replaces a mainstream conservative like Sandra Day O’Connor with someone like Thomas or Scalia, a right-wing ideologue, that would mean a constitutional crisis.”

First, it’s ridiculous to say Neas is not “looking for a fight” with the White House. How do you think PFAW raises money? With high profile fights like this one.

More importantly, the nomination of a conservative ideologue would not be to his liking (or mine), but it would not be a “constitutional crisis.” Watergate was a constitutional crisis. A conservative Supreme Court nominee doesn’t come close. And pretending that it would just encourages more extremism and hyper-partisanship.