Kowabunga

I got up this morning to check the news and found the following on Yahoo!:

U.S. Chief Justice William Rehnquist, a conservative force on the Supreme Court for over 30 years, died on Saturday after battling thyroid cancer since October, a court spokeswoman said.

The loss of Rehnquist is a great loss to out country, and he will be greatly missed.

The article continues to with:

Rehnquist's death came just days before the Senate was to begin confirmation hearings for John Roberts, a conservative appeals court judge picked by Bush in July to replace the more moderate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and whose choice ignited a partisan clash. The court's new term opens on October 3.

With to positions on the Supreme Court to fill, and the Democrats playing partisan games over the Roberts nomination, it may be a long time before we see both of these seats on our highest court filled.