Dana Milbank’s report in WaPo concerning the Robert’s hearings (A Day of Firsts, Overshadowed) opens up with the follow nuggets:
Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) made 49 first-person references in a 10-minute statement that was, ostensibly, not about himself.
and
Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) showed exceptional emotional versatility, working a crossword puzzle during the hearing and then choking back a sob while making a prosaic statement about partisanship.
And, without debating the content of the comments, the following strikes me as bizarre and irrelevant to the hearing:
Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (Vt.), the committee’s ranking Democrat, led off with an observation that the hurricane was “a tragic reminder of why we have a federal government.” Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) said, in one of three references, “Katrina tore away the mask that has hidden from public view the many Americans who are left out and left behind.”
And, ultimately, this is amusing in its own way, and really does underscore that all of this is political Kabuki:
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), opening the hearing, called the confirmation “perhaps the biggest challenge of the decade.” But at times it appeared to be a swearing-in ceremony. Before the hearing, Kennedy shook the hand of Jane Roberts and said to the nominee’s wife, “Congratulations.”Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.) seemed to be taking confirmation for granted when he listed a range of issues likely to come before the court and told Roberts, repeatedly, “You will rule on that.”
[...]
Sen. John W. Warner (R-Va.), who had the job of formally introducing Roberts to the committee, offered some advice to the nominee’s playful young son, Jack: “You can wiggle a little bit. Don’t worry.”
Really, given that that is no doubt that all the relevant minds have been made up, and given that there is going to b very little learned here, I have to wonder out loud as to whether multi-day hearings are necessary or worthwhile.
On the one hand, it does seem as if some sort of official public discussion given the enormity and gravity of the office to which he has been nominated.
On the other hand, these events have so little to do, ultimately, with either seeking knowledge or
honest public debate, that I have to ask as to whether we should have them at all.
Of course, I am fairly certain that if we didn’t have television that we wouldn’t have them at all.
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September 13th, 2005 at 9:00 am
Slouching towards a confirmation
Yet, they do not consider the inherent moral dangers that arise when a people decide to cast off the chains that moor the ship of state to a solid philosophical anchor, and let that ship drift out in the currents of opinion.
September 14th, 2005 at 11:08 pm
[...] #8217;ve seen, I’ve been wholly unimpressed with this confirmation hearings charade. “Political Kabuki” as Dr. Taylor said.
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September 15th, 2005 at 6:12 pm
Confirmation information in the judicial appointment process
A few days ago at Poliblog, Steven made an observation about the current hearings for Judge John Roberts, nominee for Chief Justice of the United States:
these events have so little to do, ultimately, with either seeking knowledge or honest public de…