John Roberts Judicial Hearings

I've spent a little time listening to the hearings. A bit of Kennedy's questions, a few of Biden's questions. I've also been reading the spin presented. The Democrat spin is that he is avoiding the tough questions, the Repub is that he is doing beautifully.

He sounds like an intelligent judge, no one's lapdog. Since learning of the lifetime appointments of the Supreme Court in high school, I've not worried about this branch. The extremely limited focus of their jobs, to hear issues that need constitutional interpretation combined with their lifetime appointments, almost assures that they drop all their 'friendship' loyalties. Almost all appointees have disappointed their party of appointment over and over again. It is relatively easy to tell the party of the appointment, based on their voting on the 'key' issues. But, all of them become more and more centrist as the years go by.

Their voting isn't like that of a Senator, where there will be thousands of votes, yeah or nay. They hear a few cases at a time, in detail and they realize the heft of their individual vote. Their votes have to be defended legally, and they receive no reward (like funding, like new bridges, like a better chance of being reelected) for going either way.

I like Judge Roberts as much as I could like an experienced lawyer. I have faith that the system of hearings will weed out any fanatics, and that the lifetime appointments and huge responsibility of being a Supreme Court Justice will even out any loyalties rather quickly.

Janet