Alito confirmation hearings

Of course, I have to get in my 2¢ on this. A lot of things seemed to be very frustrating in my life today, and this was up there in the top five, at least. I got to hear what I assumed were the last two opening statements, which, as always, were just opportunities for the senators to do some grandstanding in front of the camera. One Republican was going on about how some 80% of "children" with Downs syndrome were being "killed" through abortion and how it's so important that we "take care of the weakest among us." This, after they just made huge budget cuts to the programs that help "the weakest among us" while insisting on more huge tax cuts for the richest among us.

One thing I would do if I were in charge of one of these committes is to eliminate the opening statements. I also wouldn't allow any blathering on about the candidate's "story" - which, of course, is always about how he started from nothing, poor but honest parents, born in a log cabin, etc. He (since Alito is male I'll stick to that gender) should only be allowed to mention it if it's relevant; for example, if he wants to claim that he understands the lives of regular people (ha!). No congratulations from the senators on making it this far or how wonderful his family looks. No families, period - at least not in camera range. Maybe over to the side if they want to watch, but no shots of them or comments from the "news" people on how cute their kids are. If the senators aren't going to use their question time asking questions, they shouldn't be allowed to use it making speeches about their pet issues, not even the ones I agree with. If they want to take a couple of minutes to make a point about why something is important, that's one thing - but they should only be talking half of the time or less. All this would either cut the length of hearings down a lot, or else maybe they would spend the time on substantive matters. End of rant.