The hearings are on C-SPAN. (9 am ET)
Welcome to day 3 of the John Roberts confirmation hearings at the Senate Judiciary Committee as he vies for the supremo job on the Supreme Court.
As we all suspected, trying to get Roberts to give his opinion on almost anything is like trying to nail Jello to the wall. Whether you’re liberal or conservative, you’re probably frustrated by Mr Mystery because his judicial record is so stark. Oh – everybody likes Roberts – he’s a nice man from what we’ve seen, but that’s not the point of all of this. Lots of people say that Bush is nice too and we all know where that’s gotten us.
The Democrats on the panel who have questioned Roberts so far have done a good job. It’s hard to stuff matters of grave importance into 1/2 hour of questioning per person – not to mention all of that Latin stuff and those many precedents.
Speaking of precedents, Roberts’ answers can be summed up under 3 categories: 1) he believes in the importance of precedents (stare decisis) 2) he says he will judge according to the rule of law and 3) he refuses to answer with much of anything else because issues may come before him.
Roberts will be confirmed due to the power of the Republican party. The only question is how many Dems or Independents might vote against him. That’s unfortunate. When it comes to choosing someone for the top judicial job who will serve for the rest of their life, this ought not be partisan. Once again, though, the Republicans are marching in lockstep and the country will have to live with this judge for a very long time.
Please don’t post any pics. Thanks.
Update [2005-9-14 12:36:51 by catnip]: You can view video of the hearings to date on C-SPAN’s site.
