While I was stuck in the mess that was the I-15 this afternoon attempting to get to work, I caught the first hour of Hugh Hewitt on the radio. Hugh makes an excellent point about the confirmation hearing for Judge John Roberts to be chief justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, and explains why I have a heck of a time watching these hearings.

Given that the only hope the left has of defeating this man who will be Chief Justice --God willing-- for 30+ years is something that he himself says, the Democrats' long winded and almost endless set-ups to their questions are in fact great favors to Roberts, allowing the judge to in effect run out the clock while not appearing to do so. The Democrats should be asking short, simple, and open-ended questions --hundreds of them-- but they cannot bear to forfeit the television time so they chew up their only hope --the time that Judge Roberts spends talking-- and their opposition is thus perfunctory.

I can predict what just about every senator on the judiciary committee will say just by looking at the D or R after their names. I'd like to hear as much as possible from Roberts, not to play "gotcha" or hope for a fatal gaffe, but simply because once he gets on the court, the opportunities to interview him will be curtailed enormously. We'll get to read his opinions on the important cases before the court, but he'll never again sit down and answer questions for hours and hours over a several days on just about anything and everything.

I'd much rather have Roberts talking for 25 out of each senator's 30 minutes rather than the other way around.