\nBut what interests me most is Judge Alito, and his ability to just sit there and listen. To show nothing, like a stunned ox, or, as Sen. Dianne Feinstein put in on CNN, like a person with clear judicial demeanor.<\/em><\/p>\nHow does he do it? This wonderful look of enforced blandness. It\u2019s a low affect tour de force.<\/p>\n
And it cannot be easy. When Mr. Biden says things like, \u201cTry to follow me, Judge Alito,\u201d as he goes on one of his long, sterile journeys, I wonder if Judge Alito has to control himself with an act of will. I wonder if he has an inner Regis Philbin, and wants to throw out his arms and say, \u201cFollow you? If I follow you, we\u2019ll both wind up lost!\u201d When Mr. Biden says, \u201cNow this is a somewhat subtle point,\u201d I wonder if Judge Alito wants to say, \u201cJoe, if it were a subtle point you wouldn\u2019t be making it!\u201d<\/p>\n
This is the authentic sound, though not the authentic words, of Joe Biden, and this is what Judge Alito has to discipline himself not to respond to:<\/p>\n
What if a fella\u2013I\u2019m just hypothesizing here, Judge Alito\u2013what if a fella said, \u201cWell I don\u2019t want to hire you because I don\u2019t like the kind of eyeglasses you wear,\u201d or something like that. Follow my thinking here. Or what if he says \u201cI won\u2019t hire you because I don\u2019t like it that you wear black silk stockings and a garter belt. And your name is Fred.\u201d Strike that\u2013just joking, trying to lighten this thing up, we can all be too serious. Every 10 years when you see me at one of these hearings I am different from every other member of Judiciary in that I have more hair than the last time. You know why? It\u2019s all the activity in my brain! It breaks through my skull and nourishes my follicles with exciting nutrients! Try to follow me.<\/p>\n
How does Judge Alito put up with this?<\/p>\n
How does any nominee?<\/p>\n
Must he sit there bland-faced and unmoving as they say what they say? Yes, of course. Judge Alito and the White House know they have to let these men talk. They don\u2019t want the senators to feel resentful or frustrated. They know each senator feels he has to play to his base. They know the senators are, by nature, like Conair 2000 hairdryers: They just love to blow, and hard. Fwwaaaaahhhhhhhhh. And they know it is good, it is helpful, to let each senator reveal himself through his own words. I think senators feel that their words, when strung together, become little bridges. I think the White House feels that their words, when strung together, become little nooses.<\/p>\n
Perfect. A little gem of an essay.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ms. Noonan has the best commentary I\u2019ve read about the Alito hearings. Best because she is \u2013 as they say in My Cousin Vinny \u2013 \u201cdead on balls accurate\u201d about the whole process, and about both Alito and Biden, and because she\u2019s funny without being malicious. But what interests me most is Judge Alito, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":112,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-america"],"yoast_head":"\n
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