Carnival of the Hapless

So, who doesn't have Alito burn-out at this point? I can barely stand reading anymore of this crap, let alone opine about it. Besides, there are already many, many people, informed and not, doing that. The parsing and analysis of what is, essentially, content-free testimony has turned toward graphical studies of word counts, so lacking are these hearings.

In between bouts of head-shaking, I've barely been able to watch the dreadful display, both for the magnitude of Democratic incompetence and the pinched demeanor of Alito, which is probably the best public persona he's able to conjure given the sound pressure level of the scolding he has been receiving. Unfortunately for Americans, scolding is about all the Democrats seem to be able to muster in these hearings. Pitiful.

It seems obvious at this point that there really is nothing preventing Alito from getting to the Supreme Court, least of all the prattling Dems, who appear more concerned about the sound of their own wind than anything Alito might say. There has, of course, been scant amounts of that.

Despite lefties fretting that Alito must be stopped, the only ones seemingly unconvinced of this are the Senate Democrats themselves. Sure Biden was haranguing and Kennedy got into a tussle with Specter. Big deal. I can easily see Biden, after excoriating Alito's past, black opinions, voting for him anyway. Biden is like that. Besides, thinking of Senate Democrats as "lefties" is about as laughable as things get these days.

Given the inevitable outcome, the entire puppet show is all rather gruesome, really; gruesome for the moribund lack of skill the Dems have displayed in cornering Alito on any of his backpedaling and less than artful dodging. Sherer seems to have the same opinion and Walter Shapiro nails the the hapless Dems:

The eight Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee were given four hours Tuesday to grill Samuel Alito in the first unscripted day of the Supreme Court confirmation hearings, but for all they accomplished politically, they might as well have grilled frankfurters.

Soon this all will be done and we will take yet another step back toward the nineteenth century. Except for one thing: Alito will be more than happy to carry water for Bush's 21st century police state.