Rocky Mountain High: Trump picks Colorado conservative for SCOTUS

Lake Dillon and the Rockies, Colorado

Does anyone--whether they support the president or not--doubt that Donald Trump is a conservative.

From the Denver Post:

President Donald Trump on Tuesday nominated Judge Neil Gorsuch to the U.S. Supreme Court, a selection that gives the fourth-generation Coloradan a chance to become the state’s first high-court justice since Byron White retired in 1993.

Trump made the announcement during a prime-time address at the White House with the Colorado judge present. Gorsuch, a judge on the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, beat out a slate of 20 other nominees Trump has floated in recent months. On hand was Maureen Scalia, widow of Justice Antonin Scalia, whom Gorsuch would replace.

"I've always felt that after the defense of our nation, the most important decision a president can make is the selection of a Supreme Court justice," Trump said. "I've selected an individual whose qualities define, really and closely define, what we’re looking for: outstanding legal skill, a brilliant legal mind and discipline."

I really like this pick. Gorsuch is an originalist--he looks to the US Constitution for guidance when making legal decisions, which is as it is supposed to be.

Of course the leftists who dominate the Democratic Party see Gorsuch as extreme. Is the US Constitution extreme to them?

As for the last Coloradan on the nation's highest court, Byron "Whizzer" White, he was a John F. Kennedy appointee who was a rarity--a Democratic appointee who ended up serving as a conservative. Usually it's the Republican picks who flip.

Many SCOTUS justices come from the DC  Court of Appeals, which is a problem because the Beltway culture can lure good people into "going native" and forget their conservative roots.

But Gorcush comes from the Denver Court of Appeals.