Suitably Flip

Kennedy Loses His Cool, His Mind, His Grasp of Procedure, etc.

Deciding to converge on the Princeton CAP issue, among the various issues that have already been thoroughly and satisfactorily addressed in the hearings, Kennedy has just requested the Judiciary Committee meet immediately in executive session to vote on issuing a subpoena for CAP records.

This touched off a heated debate between Kennedy and Specter, as Specter agreed to consider the issue, and Kennedy completely failed to understand what was going on around him, what with all the lights and cameras and people talking.

Kennedy growled that despite having his request shot down (wrong), he would keep calling for it again and again and again.  Specter instructed Kennedy that he would not allow him to run the hearing, that he had no standing to demand an immediate executive session, and that the matter would be considered in due course.

During the next 15 minute recess, expect a Democrat media bite lamenting the fact that they're being suppressed by the committee majority, that they're not receiving necessary documentation, that their requests are not being considered, etc.  Whether Kennedy was simply spouting soundbites he wanted to get on the news or whether he truly couldn't grasp what Specter was trying to tell him is unclear.  But these first overt fireworks of the hearings are sure to tee up the as-yet absent "bombshell" the Democrats will use delay the process, either through a 1-week holdover or at very least a 3rd round of questioning.

Other than Leahy, Kennedy was the first Democrat to exhaust his 2nd round, so it's not likely a coincidence that it was right at the end of his time when sparks first flew, laying groundwork (however flimsy) for the necessity of a 3rd round.

Elsewhere among the bloggers' forum:

Captain Ed weighs in on the antics of the "vacuous boob"
The Political Teen has the audio (it's worth a listen)
Townhall.com reprints the letter Kennedy claims to have sent to Specter

Update:

As it turns out, these documents were provided by William Rusher (involved in the founding of CAP and former editor at National Review) to The New York Times in November and will indeed be available to the Judiciary Committee without subpoena.  Clearly, if the Times has had them for two months, there couldn't be anything in them even for disingenuous smear-mongers to use to impeach Alito.

Specter gave Kennedy a minute or two to sound triumphant about the fact that these documents will soon be reviewed, but again noted the peculiar fashion in which Kennedy demanded them (especially given that they were expected to require a subpoena to obtain), failing ever to mention it to Specter until now, despite seeing each other frequently, including in the Senate gym, an irregularity which Kennedy excused by noting he hasn't been to the gym since December.

Most shocking disclosure from this episode: Teddy Kennedy was in a gym in December.

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Kennedy Loses His Cool, His Mind, His Grasp of Procedure, etc.

Deciding to converge on the Princeton CAP issue, among the various issues that have already been thoroughly and satisfactorily addressed in the hearings, Kennedy has just requested the Judiciary Committee meet immediately in executive session to vote on issuing a subpoena for CAP records.

This touched off a heated debate between Kennedy and Specter, as Specter agreed to consider the issue, and Kennedy completely failed to understand what was going on around him, what with all the lights and cameras and people talking.

Kennedy growled that despite having his request shot down (wrong), he would keep calling for it again and again and again.  Specter instructed Kennedy that he would not allow him to run the hearing, that he had no standing to demand an immediate executive session, and that the matter would be considered in due course.

During the next 15 minute recess, expect a Democrat media bite lamenting the fact that they're being suppressed by the committee majority, that they're not receiving necessary documentation, that their requests are not being considered, etc.  Whether Kennedy was simply spouting soundbites he wanted to get on the news or whether he truly couldn't grasp what Specter was trying to tell him is unclear.  But these first overt fireworks of the hearings are sure to tee up the as-yet absent "bombshell" the Democrats will use delay the process, either through a 1-week holdover or at very least a 3rd round of questioning.

Other than Leahy, Kennedy was the first Democrat to exhaust his 2nd round, so it's not likely a coincidence that it was right at the end of his time when sparks first flew, laying groundwork (however flimsy) for the necessity of a 3rd round.

Elsewhere among the bloggers' forum:

Captain Ed weighs in on the antics of the "vacuous boob"
The Political Teen has the audio (it's worth a listen)
Townhall.com reprints the letter Kennedy claims to have sent to Specter

Update:

As it turns out, these documents were provided by William Rusher (involved in the founding of CAP and former editor at National Review) to The New York Times in November and will indeed be available to the Judiciary Committee without subpoena.  Clearly, if the Times has had them for two months, there couldn't be anything in them even for disingenuous smear-mongers to use to impeach Alito.

Specter gave Kennedy a minute or two to sound triumphant about the fact that these documents will soon be reviewed, but again noted the peculiar fashion in which Kennedy demanded them (especially given that they were expected to require a subpoena to obtain), failing ever to mention it to Specter until now, despite seeing each other frequently, including in the Senate gym, an irregularity which Kennedy excused by noting he hasn't been to the gym since December.

Most shocking disclosure from this episode: Teddy Kennedy was in a gym in December.