Alito Hearings: The confirmation hearings on Judge Samuel Alito's nomination to the Supreme Court were striking for their dissimilarity from last year's confirmation hearings for Chief Justice John Roberts. 1) Alito lacked the rhetorical polish of Roberts, but matched his intellectual rigor. His style was earthy and solid, well suited to his career as an appeals judge who has labored in the trenches for 15 years. His calm explanations of the law were dull at times, but for the most part, he was clear and he did not equivocate. 2) Alito went well beyond the minimum requirements of the so-called...