The big story of the day, of course, is the start of the confirmation hearings on the appointment of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court:
WASHINGTON (AP) – Democrats promised Samuel Alito tough questions on executive power, privacy rights and abortion as the Senate Judiciary Committee opened confirmation hearings Monday on President Bush’s choice to become the nation’s 110th Supreme Court justice.
In a prelude to days of grilling, several Democrats expressed misgivings about Alito’s 15 years of decisions and opinions as an appellate judge and his writings during his tenure as a lawyer in the Reagan Justice Department.
“Your record raises troubling questions about whether you appreciate the checks and balances in our Constitution – the careful efforts of our Founding Fathers to protect us from a government or a president determined to seize too much power over our lives,” said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill.
The hearings opened amid a growing debate over executive authority and Bush’s secret decision to order the National Security Agency to wiretap Americans in the terror war.
“In an era when the White House is abusing power, is excusing and authorizing torture and is spying on American citizens, I find Judge Alito’s support for an all-powerful executive branch to be genuinely troubling,” said Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass.
Republican Sen. Mike DeWine of Ohio offered a counterpoint. “Your modest approach to judging seems to bode well for our democracy,” he said.
Republicans defended the president’s pick to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, describing him as a fair-minded and brilliant jurist who would be a welcome addition to the court.
“Sam’s got the intellect necessary to bring a lot of class to that court,” said Bush in a good-luck sendoff for Alito at the White House.
Alito, said Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, “has a reputation for being an exceptional and honest judge devoted to the rule of law, and a man of integrity.”
It would have been nice if Senator Kennedy had gotten the name of the candidate correct.
I’ve been watching the hearings all morning. Bismarck was right.
There’s nothing like the confirmation hearings for a Supreme Court nomination to highlight the fact that there really are dramatically different views of the role of the Court and, indeed, the way forward for the country. This is more than just partisan posturing (although there’s plenty of that, of course).
UPDATE: Dan Drezner is looking for nominations for the single dumbest thing a Senator says during the hearings. Where to begin, where to begin? The Senate is the major leagues for this sort of thing so it will be darned hard to pick the single dumbest remark.
ANOTHER UPDATE: The Associated Press has excerpted the Senators’ opening statements.
I watched much of the hearing on Fox News because sitting here in my office watching a web C-Span stream would eventually put severe bruises on my slender ectomorphic ass.
Anyway, in the middle of it–and I really wish I could remember which senator was speaking at the time–Fox went to News Flash mode and ran a double screen showing the NYSE board approaching the 11,000 DJA.
As for analysis, it depends on who was talking when that news flash occurred.
If it came during an anti-Alito rant by a Democrat, what a great way for the wingnuts to shift the focus from the strip-searcher to how great the Bush tax-breaks-for-the-rich economy is.
If the news flash came as a Republican was kissing the strip searcher’s ass, well Jeeze Louise, what a lucky friggin’ break!