ConfirmThem

By Marshall Manson Posted in SCOTUS — Comments () / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

Earlier, I mentioned that ice-skating in hell was on my to-do list for today. As the day has progressed, I am forced to wonder if I've now drifted off into some strange world where the sky is purple. Is it possible that I find myself in agreement with something Joe Biden said at today's mark-up in the midst of his rambling remarks?

"It is true, and I got a little bit of heat for saying, these hearings have become a little bit of a kabuki dance. By that I mean a stylized dance that goes on. We all sit down, and we reread everything that the person has ever said. They sit down at the White House or wherever, and they look at films of all of the hearings that went before. Everybody figures out this kind of 'I gotcha' game. It's kind of a game of 'I gotcha.' When, in fact, it shouldn't be that at all. I might note I'm moving to the view that I'm not sure these hearings are the proper way to determine how to vote for a judge. Maybe we should go back to the pre-1925 rule and just look at what they wrote and said and make our [decision] based on that." [Emphasis added.]

I have argued repeatedly in this and other forums that Senatorial questionning of judicial nominees only injects unnecessary politics into the judicial selection process, especially given the current environment in the Senate. While recognizing that it was completely unrealistic, I have suggested that the Senate ought to just do away with the hearings entirely. How shocked I am to learn that I have an ally in Senator Biden. I think I'll launch a campaign. Or perhaps I'll just ponder this purple sky a little longer.