There was complacency among some about Miers, and there is complacency now about the Alito confirmation. The kind of people who complained about that first, horrible appointment are the kind of people who get told to "breathe." Good thing they weren't discouraged by this cheap name-calling.
Alito is only a down payment on a conservative court -- he's a fourth vote, not a fifth. And I think even in Alito's case, there is cause for concern, however modest.
We need one more opening, and it needs to be filled with someone at least as good. In addition, Scalia is old and fat. Sorry, but he is. I doubt that he has another 10 years. He needs to decide whether he wants to risk being replaced by the Witch, or any other Rat. If he makes the wise decision and retires in 2007, will he be replaced by someone equally strong? I'm not prepared to assume that, especially given the Prez's notorious political correctness, and the Miers disaster.
Yes, we made some progress with Alito. But we still have a long way to go.
I agree completely with your analysis, even though you are from CA (Ha).