Patterico's Pontifications

9/12/2005

Roberts Hearing Begins Today

Filed under: General,Judiciary — Patterico @ 7:13 am



The confirmation hearing for John Roberts begins today. I’m a working stiff, so I’ll miss it; maybe they’ll have re-runs on C-SPAN later. In any event, this all looks pretty pro forma to me.

If anyone should be paying attention, it’s Miguel Estrada, who should closely observe the way Roberts answers his questions. That way, if Bush takes my suggestion and nominates Estrada, the candidate will be prepared for his own confirmation hearing. Estrada will be able to deflect any claim that his answers are insufficient if he can validly say: “That is the same level of detail that was given by John Roberts. And he was confirmed.”

9 Responses to “Roberts Hearing Begins Today”

  1. Patterico-
    “That is the same level of detail that was given by John Roberts. And he was confirmed.”

    Why wait for Roberts’ confirmation when that precedent has already been set by Reno for being confirmed after providing no detail by the expedient of refusing to answer any questions.

    If that defense did conservative nominees any good it would have been invoked by now.

    Scott (57c0cc)

  2. nice, Leahy busts out katrina within a minute of starting talking.

    Angry Clam (a7c6b1)

  3. I’m amazed how both Leahy and Kennedy managed to, in the space of a sentence, both condemn the Supreme Court’s commerce clause jurisprudence as an infringement on the legislative perogative, and at the same time complain about the Court not legislating from the bench.

    Angry Clam (a7c6b1)

  4. I’m a tech guy, which means that if i’m doing something that allows me to multitask, I can listen to the hearings on streaming media while i’m working. It’s particularly amusing to do so while mixing it with trance techno.

    The members of the committee are still giving speeches about what they think about supreme court nominations, the role of the courts, etc. It’s 4pm EST and they haven’t even started asking questions yet – and, worse, they’re talking past each other; it’s like Roberts is getting a dozen different and contradictory lectures.

    Blech.

    aphrael (e0cdc9)

  5. It’s positioning. It’s interesting, for example, how underplayed Senator Kennedy was, given his previous statements on the Court.

    What will be interesting is Roberts’ own opening statement later this afternoon- we’ll see how he sets the tone.

    Also, it’s only 3 PM EST here.

    CSPAN will be KING if they make a podcast of the hearings.

    Angry Clam (fa7fff)

  6. Aye. Or NPR, which is also doing live streaming.

    aphrael (e0cdc9)

  7. My NPR affiliate wasn’t covering it on the radio. I tried to find it during lunch.

    Angry Clam (fa7fff)

  8. Senator Feinstein emitted this gem today:
    During World War II, Hungarian fascist and Nazi soldiers forced thousands of Jews including men, women and small children to remove their shoes, as a final humiliation, before shooting them and letting their bodies fall and drift down the river. These shoes represent a powerful symbol of man’s inhumanity.

    Shredstar (532850)

  9. My favorite line from Feinstein was when Spector called her for time and she said “Oh is my time ALREADY up?!?” She had been talking so long I was ready to hang myself. I swear those guys are so egotistical and narcissistic its amazing.

    Anyway, that wasn’t a hearing. It was a bloviation parade. The posturing and self importance was mind blowing. If that’s the way its going to be I’m afraid I won’t be watching much of it.

    Dwilkers (a1687a)


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