It just started. Arlen Specter told the Senators to keep it brief because, for the most part, everyone knows where they stand.
I'm sure you can count on tuning in about an hour from now to find them bloviating still.
Patrick Leahy is right now telling all of us how there were many hundreds of people who could have gotten unanimous approval from the Senate, many who would have united Democrats and Republicans instead of dividing them. What a shame that President Bush did not pick one of them, he says. Riiight, Pat.
UPDATE: For the record, we're 2 hours and 20 minutes in, and we've got two or three Senators left. There has been precious little mention of Concerned Alumni of Princeton or Vanguard-- evidence of the lameness of those arguments against him (you know if the Dems on the Judiciary Committee realize they're lame soon enough to spare themselves any small amount of embarrassment, even this late in the game, the arguments must be TRULY lame).
Instead, Democrats are looking past the nomination of Alito and sounding '06 election themes, like the President's attempts to "overreach" his executive authority and other general complaints. It would seem they know Alito's confirmation is a foregone conclusion.
The Washington Post's blog is tracking the votes, which are along party lines, as expected. The talking heads are predicting 60 votes for Alito on the floor.
UPDATE 2: Alito is officially approved out of committee, 10-8.
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