But it DOESN'T matter. Unless Kennedy can produce pictures of Alito having sex with babies or wearing a Nazi uniform at a Klan rally, he's already confirmed. They have all the votes they need, period. If the Dems filibuster, they'll break it.

The Dem senators are just as big a bag of grandstanding pukes as the Republicans. No one could be as fellatingly gifted as Mr. Graham, of course, but Kennedy's got nothing, and he knows it.

It's nice to hear him get a few shots in, though. Make the silly Republican Miss cry.

I just hope it doesn't backfire on them. There is a very interesting election coming up.

You're wrong, FNARF. You're wrong because you're missing the point. What matters is warrantless searches. What matters is the right to choose. What matters is that Alito's views from the bench have been at odds with his fellow - Republican appointed - jurists all too often, and all too often favoring the powerful over the powerless. What matters is his views on the constitution, and what his past tells us about that.

If they didn't prep Mrs. Alito for this, they're even stupider than I thought. If they did prep her for it, well, it sucks to be in her position, but they signed on for it. She knows her husband's record, and everyone knows he's going to be questioned about it.

Despite Republicans' best efforts with Alito and Roberts, confirmation hearings don't exist so that 11 Senators can fellate a new Supreme Court justice. These hearings take place so the nominee can be fully vetted for their qualifications, temperament and judgement. It's supposed to be confrontational and difficult - this is the single most important and possibly dangerous judicial post in the land. They'd better damn well check every note he scribbled in grade school and every mole on his ass!

Mrs. Alito is a big girl, and she'll recover from the horror of her husband being appointed to the most prestigious judgeship on the planet, I'm sure.

No, I'm not wrong. Warrantless searches are a fact of life now, and you are powerless to do anything about them, and so am I, and so is Ted Kennedy. The Republicans on the committee SUPPORT warrantless searches, and they're in charge. They run the fucking place.

And Alito is already confirmed. He'll get 60 votes. Several will come from Democrats. Ted Kennedy knows it. Arlen Spector knows it. Alito knows it. Bush knows it. Everybody knows it. It's a done deal, and they are going through the motions.

If Kennedy can make the fucker squirm a little before he goes in, that's great -- as long as he doesn't hump up the election that make move some of these scumbags out soon. The stuff Kennedy's digging up isn't hurting him, it's helping him, with the people who count (a majority of the other senators). Alito's already in.

Well, then I guess I can sleep better at night. Since Republicans all support it, I guess it's all okay. Sleeeeep, little voters, sleeeeep. What the fuck?

You've got a pretty bizarre rationale there. Republicans ALWAYS support this shit. But it's unconstitutional, and the job of committeemembers is to question everything about nominees. Hence, it matters.

The Republicans control the committee - should Democrats just let it go? Eh, we can't change it, so let's talk about what a great guy Alito is.

Will it change the outcome? Probably not. Does that mean we just turn over the keys and wander off to Igivethefuckup Land? I'm pretty damn sure it doesn't. They're still there to ask the tough questions, because constitutional issues matter, regardless of who's in charge.