A Little Surprised

Even with all the Hurricane Katrina aftermath - which is a huge story, don't get me wrong - it seems to me the Roberts hearings are getting short shrift. The cable news stations covered them for some of the day today, and the papers are following along of course. But even in the blogosphere (let alone among the public at large), I've been somewhat surprised at the muted level of discussion about the confirmation process and the hearings. On the NBC news tonight, it was several minutes before the questions and answer session today was even mentioned, and even then it got much less time than I would have expected.

I guess that speaks to the "non-controversial" way that the Roberts nomination ended up. Maybe, like the interest groups, the media and the bloggers are saving their time and energy for the next nominee. That could, I suppose, be a smart move in the long run, particularly if Bush opts for a more polarizing figure next time around. But at the same time, this is the chief justiceship we're talking about here ... seems like the media in particular would be paying a bit more attention. I suppose they smell more "story" around the Katrina aftermath, particularly now that they've gotten the president to take responsibility for something (bad) for the first time in four and a half years.

Meanwhile, for those of us who do happen to be slightly obsessed with the Roberts hearings, the full transcript from the question sessions on Tuesday are here, and there are also video excerpts here and here. The whole thing begins again tomorrow morning.