John Podhoretz on Day 2

John Podhoretz has some thoughts on Day 2 of the hearings:

PERHAPS Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee could rally to defeat Samuel Alito's nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court. But to do so, they'd have to conduct themselves like intelligent adversaries, rather than behaving like a gaggle of boorish, clownish, hectoring geese.

They would have to ask him probing questions that might lead Alito to contradict himself or back himself into a legal corner. They would have to engage in quick question-and-answer sessions in which they sought to make the nominee agree or disagree to various propositions and act disappointed if he tried to evade them.

Mostly, they'd have to stop talking and let Alito talk — because the only way Alito can be defeated is for Alito to defeat himself.

But Alito's opponents on the committee are just too deeply in love with the sounds of their own voices and too deeply limited by their own limited understanding of constitutional law to give the judge a run for his money.

Some of the day's highlights:

Yesterday, the Delaware Democrat delivered one of the most inadvertently hilarious performances in the history of televised hearings.

Each senator got 30 minutes to question Alito. Biden said his opening statement would be brief. It went on for 14 minutes. (Previously mentioned here-HC).

[...]

Nor do you defeat a smart and sober judge like Alito by looking down at a list of questions and reading through them as though you were a court stenographer asked to read back someone else's testimony. That's what Herb Kohl, the Wisconsin Democrat, did. Absurdly.

And you don't defeat a clever and substantive judge like Alito by archly demanding to know why on earth he would rule that it would be acceptable to strip-search a 10-year-old, as both Patrick Leahy of Vermont and Ted Kennedy of Chappaquiddick (oops, sorry, Massachusetts) did. Because when you do so, you give Alito the opportunity to knock one out of the park against you, as Alito did:

"Senator," Alito said to Leahy, "I wasn't happy that a 10-year-old was searched. Now, there wasn't any claim in this case that the search was carried out in any sort of an abusive fashion. It was carried out by a female officer . . . [But] I don't think there should be a Fourth Amendment rule . . . that minors can never be searched. Because if we had a rule like that, then where would drug dealers hide their drugs? That would lead to greater abuse of minors."

In your face, Pat Leahy.

The media keeps describing Alito as being on the "hot seat". So far, it's not even a warm seat. The Dems have made it pretty easy for him. Hugh Hewitt adds this about the Senate Dems:

Lileks writes occasionally about Senatitus, a peculiar condition that infects United States Senators with an overwhelming hubris, the result of never being contradicted by staff or constituents. Their inevitable surprise at not being the smartest person in the room is a joy to watch, as is their indifference to embarassment.