The word is out and District of Columbia Appellate Court Judge John Roberts is President George W. Bush’s nominee for the nation’s highest court. He will replace the retiring Sandra Day O’Connor, who was the high court’s first female justice. Therein lies the problem.

Instead of choosing to reach out to women and minorities, the president opted to side with the status quo yet again.

The self proclaimed “uniter” decided it was more important to nominate a conservative Caucasian male with relatively little appellate judicial experience. While Roberts may indeed be “stellar” and “one of the best,” as Wendy Long of The Judicial Confirmation Network described, the Supreme Court needs to be a body representative of the democracy it serves.

According to the 2000 U.S. Census 50.9 percent of America is female. Currently the court is 11 percent female, with only woman justice. The comparison for other minority groups is worse.

While one black justice does sit on the high court, the Latino population of America is not represented despite the fact that it makes up nearly 13 percent of the population.

This Supreme Court nomination promises intense scrutiny in the U.S. Senate. The scrutiny will likely stem from Roberts’ perceived stance against the controversial 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.

It is not really surprising that the nomination would come back to partisan differences considering today’s climate inside the Beltway. Bickering has completely commandeered intelligent discussion in Washington and the country is divided like no time since the Vietnam War.

While the bickering is not surprising, it is, nonetheless, terribly sad. The Senate owes Americans more than inane arguments about political stances of judicial nominees. It is their responsibility to help uphold this great democracy and its system of checks and balances and to ensure that those who lead us represent the nation as best as possible.

Ignoring the great contributions of millions of minorities and women in America by snubbing them from the high court is not a good way to ensure this is accomplished.

It’s time for the Senate and the president to wake up and represent the people instead of their own petty, partisan interests.

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