Roberts: "I didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition"

Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!

Our principle weapon is surprise! Surprise and fear. Fear and surprise. And Pat Leahy and Ted Kennedy, implying that the Supreme Court controls hurricanes.

John Roberts stunned the entire Senate today, when he only used nine minutes of his allotted fifteen, in a building where no one has ever used less than their allotted time ever before. (From Arlen Specter: "Now, Judge Roberts, we compliment you on your patience of listening to 21 speeches. And the floor is now yours"). His remarks are quite good, and short enough for normal people with normal lives to read. For the rest of you freaks, Mary Katherine Ham is collecting links to the full statements from everyone on the committee.

Roberts:

"Judges and justices are servants of the law, not the other way around. Judges are like umpires. Umpires don’t make the rules; they apply them. The role of an umpire and a judge is critical. They make sure everybody plays by the rules. But it is a limited role. Nobody ever went to a ball game to see the umpire."

If this pans out, Roberts sounds like the non-activist let-the-people-decide-democratically type we need to see on the bench. Of course, you can't decide everything you need to know after an opening statement, but so far, so good.