Senator Franken questioning Sotomayer NOW

[SpartanDem]

[PretzelWarrior]

1. already cracking me up

[mikiturner]

2. Matthews could barely contain himself

"There he is!"

[Botany]

3. Perry Mason Smack

[Cha]

4. Really?

Any words?

[polmaven]

28. DARN I miss Perry!

What a HANDSOME dude! :cry:

[Misskittycat]

5. I didn't know Franken went to law school.

[PretzelWarrior]

9. nope

[Misskittycat]

10. So, apparently, you don't need to be a lawyer to be on the Judiciary

Comm? Just read that Tom Coburn is on the Committee also, so apparently, you can be a non-lawyer and a cretin, and still be eligible for the Committee. WTF?

[PretzelWarrior]

13. I know. Thankfully, there are very knowledgable people like Leahy.

I am not sure why Franken was given a seat on the Judiciary. Maybe to piss off fundy rightwingers and blowhards like Rush Limbaugh and Hannity and O'Leilly?

[lindisfarne]

14. Can you see no value in having non-lawyers on the committee? It might provide a little

different perspective.
You don't need a law degree to be able to think critically about issues.

And having a law degree doesn't guarantee you can think at all. Look at some on the judiciary committee.

[Cha]

16. Precisely. n/t

[Misskittycat]

20. I respectfully disagree. This is the Comm. that screens federal judges

of all levels, among other critical tasks. It takes more than a skill in critical thinking, though that is a good starting point for any good lawyer.

I'm a lawyer, though not at all a knee-jerk apologist for the legal profession. Law is no more "do-it-yourself" than is brain surgery. It would be foolish to have a lawyer on a panel judging which type of brain surgery procedure is more effective than others.

The selection of judges is one of the most important functions of Congress. Judges, through their judicial decisions, affect all our lives for years and sometimes generations to come. Most lawyers would not be skilled enough to ask intelligent questions and evaluate responses of judicial candidates, much less non-lawyers.

[PretzelWarrior]

21. this is a dog and pony show. sorry. nothing more. nothing less.

the real work of combing through her cases and record of decisions, speeches, etc. has already been done by many lawyers.

[Misskittycat]

22. I agree about the dog-and-pony show aspect, but the Senator still

has to make the final decision. I feel good about folks like Sheldon Whitehouse making that decision; less so with some of the others.

[lindisfarne]

23. Who would you prefer? Franken or Graham? One has a JD, one does not.n/t

[Misskittycat]

24. Neither.

As I suggested in my post, merely being a lawyer is not enough. Moreover, that's a false choice; obviously, I would prefer Franken over that ridiculous tool Graham.

[lindisfarne]

25. I don't agree a JD is necessary. I think having non-lawyer perspectives is as important as having

lawyers on the committee.

[Misskittycat]

26. Having non-lawyer input and perspective in the process generally

is and can be valuable. But the key decision makers on the Judicial Committee, i.e., the gatekeeping body,need to have more technical background and training.

Similarly, when I next go in for brain surgery, I will be selecting a Board-certified neurosurgeon.

[lindisfarne]

27. Many (but not all) lawyers are similarly biased toward their profession.Leahy,for example, isn't n/t

[Misskittycat]

29. You're entitled to your opinion, but I don't accept your conclusion

that my comments and position here show merely (or at all) that I am "...biased toward...my profession...."

Now, as far as I'm concerned, this flame war is over; I'm getting back to (my legal) work.

[MrsMatt]

30. I'd rather have a non lawyer like Sen. Franken

than a "lawyer" like Orly Taitz

[Orsino]

31. You don't have to be a lawyer to be on the Supreme Court...

...and you don't need to have been a judge. And I think a pulse may not be necessary to sit on the Judiciary Committee, or Sessions wouldn't be leading the charge.

[Lochloosa]

17. He didn't...see below

He attended Harvard College and graduated cum laude in 1973 with a bachelor of arts degree in political science.<10>

[President Decider]

6. I'm really struggling with watching Stewart Smalley grill our Supreme Court Justices

something seems out of kilter here ....

[PretzelWarrior]

8. it is funny. he shows he's out of his element...but he's like the "people's represantative"

and he certainly doesn't ask questions any stupider than some of the other jerks I've heard.

It is clear to me that these Senators use this forum to speak to their constituents. In that sense, I think he's successful.

[calimary]

12. He strikes me as having done some homework.

He seems to be asking reasonable questions, and bringing up some interesting cases. If he is a non-lawyer and he's asking questions from a more civilian mentality (although a mentality educated at Harvard), he's representing all the rest of us non-lawyers pretty damn well.

The Perry Mason anecdotal stuff at the beginning notwithstanding, that Oklahoma asshole inhofe who referred to him as "the clown from Minnesota" can just go stick his head up his ass and leave it there. But then again, I'd say that about inhofe in ANY situation, whether Al Franken - SENATOR Al Franken - had anything to do with those circumstances or not.

He's doing great! And any skilled public speaker knows it's always advantageous to open with a joke. He got a big smile out of her, too.

[PretzelWarrior]

15. yeah. he is holding up pretty well.

I am wondering when he's going to be seriously funny? Yup. He's doing it right not.

[zbdent]

7. thankfully, Justice Sotomayor can answer a question ...

sheesh ...

[RepublicanElephant]

11. i think al's doing a great job, asking the kind of progressive questions

paul wellstone might have asked.

[PretzelWarrior]

18. lol. when they went to recess and people are talking. you can hear Franken laughing

in his very unique way. It is such a breath of fresh air to have him in the proceedings. He'll bring dignity but also humor and perspective.

Loved his "Is the word 'birth control' in the Constitution?"

[RepublicanElephant]

19. i'm looking forward to more of al!

:headbang: