Confirmation

The Democrats, the one's I heard today and yesterday, were polite and reasonable, though some definitely sounded like lawyers, and strident Joe Biden never fails to sound irritated. Yesterday, they outlined their concerns; today they asked pointed questions. I heard who I think was Carl Levin, maybe it was Russ Feingold, ask informative respectful questions in a cordial exchange with Judge Roberts.

The Democrats are the minority party; the opposition: it is their responsibility to ask tough questions and, when necessary, oppose the Republicans. Party leaders failed miserably in this regard when we went to war, and it cost our party the election, our country its reputation, our military its efficacy, and our treasury bllions and billions of dollars. The American people deserved to hear the arguments against war, even if the country disagreed.

Roberts should be scrutinized, and the Democrats should oppose him as they see fit. A filibuster would be a political mistake, but they're not going to the mat on this one. He may not be the typical Bushie hack, breathing ideology out of one nostril and incompetence out of the other, but the Democrats needn't vote for him if they think he's the wrong man.

Democracy is about disagreeing, compromising, living with decisions you don't like. There's no battle here, and no reason to curl up and die.

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