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Nomination of John G. Roberts [LIVE Thread 9-13]~Day Two
Senate Judiciary ^ | 9-13-05 | Senate Judiciary Committee

Posted on 09/13/2005 5:01:31 AM PDT by OXENinFLA

Q&A with Roberts to Start
On Tuesday, the eighteen members of the Senate Judiciary Cmte. begin questioning Chief Justice nominee John Roberts. This will take all day, with the senators asking their questions, up to a half-hour for each member, in order of seniority, alternating by party.

The Schedule (media advisory)


Tentative Schedule for the Hearing: Schedule is subject to change

Tuesday, Sept. 13

9:30 am Chairman Specter begins 30 minute round of questioning (Round 1)

1:00 pm Break for lunch

2:00 pm Resume questioning

6:00 pm Break for dinner

7:00 pm Resume questioning

8:30 pm Round 1 questioning ends


The Dem playbook

The Hill newspaper gives us a peek at the Democratic playbook for the Roberts hearings. Below are the attack assignments for the Democratic members of the Committee:

Kennedy -- civil rights

Leahy -- Bybee torture memo

Biden -- privacy, personal autonomyand the 9th Amendment

Kohl -- Property rights and civil liberties

Feinstein -- "judicial activism" and Roe vs. Wade

Feingold -- limits of executive powers

Schumer and Durbin have wisely refused to show their hand.

Via FromTheBleachers


LIVE LINKS

C-span3

Senate Judiciary Committee webcast.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: District of Columbia
KEYWORDS: 109th; chiefjustice; confirmationhearing; johnroberts; judiciary; judiciarycommittee; livethread; roberts; robertshearings; scotus
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To: Bush gal in LA

I love Levin. He really skewered the Dems on the committee today. I just worry that someday his head's going to explode.


2,921 posted on 09/13/2005 5:27:30 PM PDT by July 4th (A vacant lot cancelled out my vote for Bush.)
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To: GoLightly

Yes, it would, but it's hard to imagine there is another
mind like Roberts out there. He was truly amazing....or maybe he just looked that way in contrast to the dopes doing the questioning.


2,922 posted on 09/13/2005 5:27:58 PM PDT by ShowMeMom (America: The home of the free because of the brave.)
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To: GoLightly

Thanks for the heads up.


2,923 posted on 09/13/2005 5:28:02 PM PDT by jwalsh07
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To: jwalsh07

My pleasure. I am much encouraged and reassured about this man now. He has a truly magnificent mind. It is absolutely stunning to listen to him.


2,924 posted on 09/13/2005 5:28:23 PM PDT by conservativebabe (September 11, 2001 - NEVER FORGET)
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To: jwalsh07

Thanks! I appreciate that coming from you! You're one of the true stalwarts here!


2,925 posted on 09/13/2005 5:28:44 PM PDT by puroresu (Conservatism is an observation; Liberalism is an ideology)
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To: Lizarde
I don't believe Schumer and Kennedy listened to any of his answers - they aren't interested in learning anything about him - they were almost never in the room FGS.

They could care less what he said to other senators. What they were doing is typical of attack senators. They have staffs that try to come up with questions that will cause the nominee to make a mistake.

What they hope to do is two fold. First by their own monologues persuade the audience that the nominee is not a good nominee, and then to prove it by trapping the nominee into saying something he should not.

The techniques are all known. On common ploy is to use an untrue premise to a question in hopes the nominee will not challenge the premise. Another is to quote the nominee out of context for the first part of a question and then ask a second part and third part to the question hoping the nominee will not challenge the first part. Then a Democratic staffer will point out to AP and other news services that Roberts did not deny the allegation in the out of context quote. Roberts never once failed to challenge false premises and always countered all accusations made in the first part of questions.

There are several other techniques and the Democrats failed at every attempt to use them

Congressional hearings are a lot like football. Everyone knows about every play used in the game. Everyone knows every possible run and pass play. Games are won by Senators who oppose a nominee, when the nominee fails to halt the offensive play. Roberts was never blindsided. He knew what was coming in every case, and had a near perfect defense. In football terms Kennedy, Leahy, Schumer and company never got a touchdown. They never even got a first down.

It is not uncommon for Senators to only stay in the room when they are in the game.

Today was a spectacular performance by Roberts. The best I have seen in my lifetime.

2,926 posted on 09/13/2005 5:30:55 PM PDT by Common Tator
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To: Common Tator

Today reminded me of when you see a dog play with a stuffed animal and they shake their heads back and forth with it in their mouths. Roberts was the dog, the Dems were the stuffed animal. He overpowered them at every turn, controlled them.


2,927 posted on 09/13/2005 5:33:24 PM PDT by conservativebabe (September 11, 2001 - NEVER FORGET)
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To: Common Tator
Today was a spectacular performance by Roberts. The best I have seen in my lifetime.

Same here.

2,928 posted on 09/13/2005 5:33:46 PM PDT by ShowMeMom (America: The home of the free because of the brave.)
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To: puroresu
He also noted that Casey's modifications of Roe constituted an alteration of precedent, which I liked. He effectively told the Democrats that Roe has already been tampered with.

Hopefully, they will be thick and too shell-shocked to notice. I can't imagine they understood half of what he was talking about. Their lack of follow-up questions indicated they were clueless. All they could say was, "hmmm,.... let's come back to that tomorrow" - i.e. I'll have my staff look at it overnight and let them figure out a relevant question.

The Dems brought a wagon load of half-wits to a wit fight. They lost.

2,929 posted on 09/13/2005 5:35:41 PM PDT by Gritty ("A war half the country refuses to recognize staggers on as a contemporary purgatory - Mark Steyn)
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To: onyx
Ouch. My html must have been off, it cut off the post somewhat. I'm not going to re-type everything but it looks harsh the way it broke my words so I'll add a short summary of what was cut out.

*one more thing* -- Roberts is not one of us (partisans) but he is truly a STRICT CONSTITUTIONALIST, just like POTUS promised.

Precisely Right.

I have tired of people refering to whether or not he is a conservative. It isn't the point. Yes, I believe he's a conservative, whether as "conservative" politically as Reagan or Scalia? I don't know, but I do believe he's a conservative.

The main point is whether he is a Constitutionalist. Strict Constructionist. Originalist. By whatever name one defines it as. While there is still room for argument among those that hold this viewpoint towards the Courts, even the Founders had their areas of disagreements, this viewpoint towards the Courts will be closer to the intent of the Constitution. No question it trends further away from Judicial obligarchy.

I have no doubt he meets the requirements set forth by the President and by Conservatives in this arena. Courts are not meant to spur a movement, either Liberal or Conservative. It is not their role. Simply to function as a co-equal branch charged with the responsibility to interpret the Constitution. This duty he will discharge well.

2,930 posted on 09/13/2005 5:37:08 PM PDT by Soul Seeker (Barbour/Honore in '08)
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To: ShowMeMom

You know, it must suck to be the other guys (senators) sitting and listening to judge Roberts, thinking they brought their A-game and being so outsmarted to the point of looking stupid themselves. Though, most of those narcissistic shmucks probabaly even realize how stupid they are and that they are R oberts' intellectual inferior in every way.


2,931 posted on 09/13/2005 5:38:19 PM PDT by conservativebabe (September 11, 2001 - NEVER FORGET)
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To: guinnessman
I personally like his answers on Stare Decisis. Basically, all he is saying is that he respects judicial precedents and will give due consideration to them

That's good to know. Unfortunately all I got to hear of the grilling was a few minutes now and then throughout the day, so most of my information about it came by reading parts of this thread. I must have missed the questions about his view of stare decisis.

2,932 posted on 09/13/2005 5:39:22 PM PDT by epow (Vegetarian - old Indian word for "poor shot".)
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To: Gritty

I'm pretty sure it was during an exchange with Senator Hatch that it was noted that Casey itself was an alteration of the Roe precedent.


2,933 posted on 09/13/2005 5:40:12 PM PDT by puroresu (Conservatism is an observation; Liberalism is an ideology)
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To: epow

It was addressed early in the day, and then referred back to somewhere in the middle of the day.


2,934 posted on 09/13/2005 5:40:30 PM PDT by conservativebabe (September 11, 2001 - NEVER FORGET)
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To: LisaFab

This is C-SPAN's "Heidi" snafu.


2,935 posted on 09/13/2005 5:40:36 PM PDT by CDB ("Something there is that doesn't love a wall"--Robert Frost - NOT Jamie Gorelick)
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To: Bush gal in LA

Okay, okay, I keep seeing these posts about Chrissy Matthews interspersed in the confirmation hearing thread...

Is there a thread somewhere about this Hardball is off of MSNBC schedule, story????

I feel like the only one at party that doesn't know the punch line to a joke....


2,936 posted on 09/13/2005 5:40:48 PM PDT by Txsleuth
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To: conservativebabe

Yes, it must suck to be them. They know he'll be confirmed. They know he knows more about the law than all of them put together. They know he has more class in his pinky finger than all of them have together. But they still had to sit there and spew their crappy talking points on TV to grovel to their looney left base for campaign funds. They'll still be doing the same thing long after John Roberts is the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.


2,937 posted on 09/13/2005 5:44:10 PM PDT by ShowMeMom (America: The home of the free because of the brave.)
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To: conservativebabe

Is the hearing over for the day?

For some reason, C-span 2 isn't showing this --- just reruns of other stuff from today.


2,938 posted on 09/13/2005 5:44:14 PM PDT by Txsleuth
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To: CDB

So you need to learn to spell then. Judiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiciiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiary Comiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitee.


2,939 posted on 09/13/2005 5:44:23 PM PDT by tiki
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To: conservativebabe

Oh, I think they understood. When they were forced to look at their notes, then pass on questioning because they didn't understand his reply well enough to follow up a question...they understood they were outmatched in intelligence.

Striking, to me, because Roberts clearly kept his responses in terms an average American could follow. He did not revert to "shop talk". Yet they couldn't keep up.

I suppose in a sense that is depressing. One would think our elected leaders were the brightest the country had to offer. Clearly not so.


2,940 posted on 09/13/2005 5:44:36 PM PDT by Soul Seeker (Barbour/Honore in '08)
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