Hating on Samuel A. Alito

I listened to the Alito conference comfirmation hearings today on NPR, almost all god knows how many hours of them; fortunately, I had a ton of housework that needed to get done.

Going sheerly on what was said and how, I can say this: I do not like or trust Samuel Alito. I did not like his smug, pat self-introduction yesterday, and I did not like his practiced evasions of the value of precedent today. I did not like his attempts to please everyone by saying nothing ("nobody is above the law"); I did not like his faulty memory--or his inadequate "racking" of said faulty memory--about Concerned Alumni of Princeton. I did not like the shift in his voice when he launched his answers to softball questions; I did not like the lilt of amusement in his voice when he pronounced "penumbra."

I didn't, however, hear any obvious slips. It seems as though the best people who share my dislike for Alito can hope for is for Specter to vote against the nomination out of concern about Roe. That would be it 9-9; I don't know exactly what happens then. Then it's either a rout or the Apocalypse in the Senate.

(Cross-posted at "Hating on Charles Bird")