These hearings are hugely a joke, IMHO.
The senators are more interested in making speeches
than eliciting answers. Unfortunately, this is true
Of course, that's what happens during any kind
of public testimony before a senatorial or congressional
panel. It is all about 'face time for me". And, some say, for fund raising purposes too. Both dems and repubs.
I don't know about anyone else, but I personally have
a very short attention span when it comes to listening
to the hot air spewed by politicians of whatever stripe. It is interesting to me how critical the left has been of Bush's ability to speak. My gawd, it took kennedy two or three days to learn how to correctly pronounce Alito's name. And Biden spoke for about thirty minutes and managed to ask three questions. The voters in MD/DE area must really be happy with Biden today.
Particularly those who are not very organized thinkers
or good "speechifiers"....lol. That would be the majority of them.
Having argued to many juries, and having presented both
direct and cross-examination, it really makes me
giggle to hear the so called "questions" posed by the politicos.
A jury's collective eyes would glaze over with
that kind of nonsense! The public should be no different. Having served on many juries, I would agree and add that some lawyers and judges can put one to sleep also. Which reminds me. The first question posed to Alito should have been: "Do you promise not to fall alseep while on the bench during a court session"? I have seen more than one judge sleep through testimony. BTW, I have also witnessed more than one congressman sleep through a meeting. Perhaps, it is in the genes. <g>
Of course, the proponents of the opposition to Alito
are probably viewing the hearings much like a wrestling match.
Although they know it is largely fake ( i.e., in terms
of sincerely seeking an answer to a real question), they
love the "color" of having their hero(s) espouse
their POV. You know that Alito is a shoo-in for the bench when CNN coverage is largely positive. My uneducated opinion is that he will be good for the court and may surprise us with some of his opinions. I expect the same from Roberts. Personally, I don't see the court becoming more conservative, but more in the middle. |
