NRO: Still Time for Republicans to Seize the Hearing Moment

From Hadley Arkes writing for National Review Online:

The Democrats, at his nomination hearing, have evidently decided to register their aversion to John Roberts, and sound their favorite themes, but to save their explosions, properly staged, for the next appointment. For that is the appointment that will replace the "swing vote" on the Court, and all of the tension will now be transferred to those hearings yet to come. But to say that the Democrats are muting themselves is simply to say that they are modulating their nastiness. Dianne Feinstein affects a reasonable style — and then, without strain she attributes to the Nazis a religious passion and connects them then with other people, among us, animated by religious conviction. She likens Nazis in Germany to serious Christians in America — and from the Republicans comes no word of reproach. Once again, the party has taken the strategy of going into the clinch: Offer praise to the nominee, insist that we respect the intellect of Roberts, and confirm him without political sniping. But nothing is done to expose the emptiness of the arguments offered by most of the Democrats — and lay the groundwork then for a Republican counterattack.

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My Comments:
I have a confession to make (since I went to Confession earlier today and therefore am in confessing mode).

At this point, I have become so disenchanted with the way this whole confirmation process has been handled by (1) the President (who should have left Roberts in the O'Connor slot and nominated a known conservative to replace Rehnquist), (2) the Judiciary Committee Republicans (who have failed to mount a vigorous defense of strict constructionist and/or originalist jurisprudence, not to mention who voted to make Arlen Specter Chairman of the damn Committee), and (3) the nominee (who doesn't give the kind of answers William Pryor gave), that I really don't care anymore whether John Roberts is confirmed as Chief Justice or not.

He will be, but that doesn't mean I have to care one way or the other.