She may well get a chance to speak. But I think the "job interview" is, by design, not going to illuminate her judicial philosophy. That's called the "Ginsberg Rule," or "hide your hand." The hearings will however illuminate her intelligence and ability to undergo an oral examination.
As for "this is America and everyone has a right to be heard," the reason I don't like this nomination is that the nominee has never spoken up, never taken a clear stand on any issue. Delivers mostly "can't we all jst get along" platitudes. And where we can infer that she might have taken a stand, or favored one side, the inference, in 100% of the cases, comes down on the liberal side of the scale. She could clear that up if she'd left some tracks.
I'm afraid of the Senate and the public taking on an important decision, without enough information to inform the decision. Sort of like "informed consent" in medicine, if you can draw the parallel. I don't know if I am "for" or "against" having the procedure until I know more about it's upside and downside.
100%! Come on now. This is exactly the type of rhetoric from members of the anti Miers contingent, that drives so many of us bonkers. As a conservative, if I thought Miers was the hardcore liberal you make her out to be, I certainly wouldn't be leaning towards supporting her confirmation. The Senate hearing for Miers will make or break her nomination. You're not a happy camper over Bush`s choice of Miers and trying to appeal to the fairness factor seems to be an effort in futility.