WHAT'S WITH THE WEEPING POTTED PLANT?:

Senate's swirling winds (Joan Vennochi, January 12, 2006, Boston Globe)

Alito sounds conversational and knowledgeable as he discusses cases he ruled upon. He also appears human, from the occasional quaver in his Garden State-accented voice to the balding circle of scalp visible when the camera shoots from behind.

His interrogators often sound arrogant and sanctimonious. That doesn't mean questions from Democrats about abortion or the limits on executive power are meritless. But, particularly on Tuesday, they were posed so poorly and loquaciously that Alito won, or at least, never lost a round.

There are other, tangential losers, such as Princeton -- and not only on the matter involving the Concerned Alumni of Princeton University. Alito disparaged the university he attended in the late 1960s and early 1970s, telling senators: ''I saw some very smart people and very privileged people behaving irresponsibly, and I couldn't help making a contrast between some of the worst of what I saw on campus and the good sense and the decency of the people back in my own community."

And what about the requisite adoring wife, peeking over her husband's shoulder as he stands at the brink of the biggest job of his life? Why is that old-fashioned picture of spousal devotion considered such an important element of the nominee's presentation? The risk of wife-as-prop was demonstrated yesterday. Mrs. Alito broke down in tears and left the hearing when the going got rough.

Geez, Ms Vennochi is so dismissive of women she could write for CAP's magazine.

Posted by Orrin Judd at January 12, 2006 5:18 PM