A: Elena Kagan

Q: Who will be the next Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court?

Despite all the evidence to the contrary, as produced by President Obama, that he is the epicenter of the divisiveness in this country, I do not think Obama will nominate someone for the United States Supreme Court who is universally recognized as a liberal extremist (this will, no doubt, upset the thugs in the White House just itching to continue to use their Chicago-made baseball bats, tire-irons and shivs).

However, as we've seen with Obama's reassertions of nearly 100 Bush/Cheney policies and staffing decisions, Obama nominating someone more moderate than some of his radical friends will not terribly upset the liberal extremists of his Party who we now know to be raving hypocrites - their silence on Obama's "Constitution shredding" now laughable.

My thought process for this nomination goes no further than Afghanistan. As the President and Secretary of Defense Gates keeping telling us and as the liberal extremists who control the media keep ignoring, there is going to be a major US offensive in Afghanistan this summer to clear the Taliban from Kandahar. (Recall, President Obama escalated President Bush's counter-terrorism strategy to a counter-insurgency strategy with no protest by the liberal extremists.) Both the President and Gates have warned of significant US casualties with the execution of Obama's new strategy.

Supreme Court nominee hearings will run concurrent to headlines reporting on the war (the liberal extremists cannot ignore the war forever, you know).

So, the President can play the nomination two ways:

First, knowing the Republican caucus in almost unanimously behind him on Afghanistan (I can't remember a President in recent history with so much support from the opposition Party), Obama could nominate a liberal extremist to placate the liberal extremists who just might remember all their feigned outrage about US troop deaths in the run-up to the 2008 election. I simply do not think President Obama will do this. More than likely, those outraged either way (liberals about Obama's 'illegal' war in Afghanistan and Republicans by a liberal nominee) will not net the two events and temper their outrage.

Or, second, knowing the Republican caucus is almost unanimously behind him on Afghanistan, Obama can have a relatively peaceful Supreme Court process and project to the Country that he is a 'moderate' as we head into the November elections. A nominee who would ensure a relatively peaceful process is Obama's Solicitor General Elena Kagan who has tremendous support in the Republican caucus. She'd likely be confirmed with more Democrats voting against her than Republicans.

If someone thinks the liberal extremists who pushed Obama over the top in 2008 will abandon him in November 2010 (as represented in Senate and House elections, not his own) over a less-than-radical Supreme Court nominee, please let me know if I'm under-estimating just how radical that element is.

Whether the nominee is Kagan or not, I do predict the nominee will be someone who is not controversial and specifically because of the events in Afghanistan.