Republicans lie through their teeth when they say they don't want activist judges. That's exactly what they want. From a TL post in 2005:

In fact, Republicans favor judicial activism. They want judges who will actively disregard the Bill of Rights and civil rights laws in favor of the religious right's agenda. Indeed, one of the judicial nominees whose consideration may trigger the nuclear option is an unabashed judicial activist.

Janice Rogers Brown of the California Supreme Court, has long declared her contempt for judicial precedent, notably writing in one opinion, "If our hands really are tied, it behooves us to gnaw through the ropes."

As People for the American Way said in 2005:

We oppose the nominations of unqualified, out-of-the-mainstream judges who would turn back the clock on decades of progress in securing fundamental rights and liberties, including civil rights, privacy rights, reproductive rights, environmental safeguards, workers’ rights, consumer rights, and religious liberty; and we support the withholding of Senate consent to such nominations through the use of the filibuster if necessary.

Federal Judgeships are for life. Someone other than one of the three blind mice need to do the choosing.