Our friend Hugh Hewitt has contributed mightily to my anger management therapy by inviting us in his Daily Standard column to view the upcoming Supreme Court judicial confirmation battle as a mixed genre tragicomic spectacle: “The circus comes to town.” Hugh writes:
The first half of 2005 saw the Democrats embark on a Thelma-and-Louise ride with Howard Dean at the wheel, and any number of senior Democrats taking turns riding shotgun, most recently with Nancy Pelosi announcing that the war in Afghanistan is over. Any hope of corralling the party’s furiously flapping left wing went out the window with the announcement of O’Connor’s retirement. The party would be best advised to quietly and responsibly pose the ordinary questions and find a way to quickly confirm the nominees as they tack their long way back to the center. But interest groups such as People for the American Way, Alliance for Justice, and MoveOn.org will have none of that, and the lefty blogs will fuel their collective frenzy.
Another center-stage appearance of the Michael Moore Democrats is on schedule. The GOP candidates in 2006 could not have hoped for a better opening act to the campaigns ahead. The Judiciary Committee proceedings will be broadcast from start to finish, and though the Democrats will think this a boon to their cause, it won’t be long until the reality of prolonged exposure to Leahy, Kennedy, Biden, Schumer, and–especially–Durbin sinks in.
It is going to be a wonderful summer and early fall.
Hugh’s prediction, however, is contingent on “some combination of Judges [Emilio] Garza-[Michael] Luttig-[Michael] McConnell-[John] Roberts to provide the two nominees that will probably be needed.” Thus, Hugh’s forecast of the nemesis that will produce the dramatically satisfying conclusion to the spectacle is predicated on Hugh’s characteristic optimism. I hope he’s right, both for the sake of the Court and my anger management therapy.
Notice: All comments are subject to moderation. Our comments are intended to be a forum for civil discourse bearing on the subject under discussion. Commenters who stray beyond the bounds of civility or employ what we deem gratuitous vulgarity in a comment — including, but not limited to, “s***,” “f***,” “a*******,” or one of their many variants — will be banned without further notice in the sole discretion of the site moderator.