'Advise and Consent,' Anyone?

Efforts to get an answer out of John G. Roberts were going nowhere at yesterday's Senate Judiciary Committee meeting, so Sen. Charles E. Schumer went Hollywood.

"Your failure to answer questions is confounding me," the New York Democrat fumed at the nominee for chief justice. "It's as if I asked you: 'What kind of movies do you like? Tell me two or three good movies.' And you say, 'I like movies with good acting.' Then I ask you if you like 'Casablanca,' and you respond by saying, 'Lots of people like "Casablanca." ' You tell me, 'It's widely settled that "Casablanca" is one of the great movies.' "

As the laughter at his expense subsided, the judge's smile shifted toward a smirk. Chairman Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) moved to call a recess, but Roberts asked if he could reply to Schumer.

" 'Dr. Zhivago' and 'North by Northwest,' " the nominee deadpanned. The crowd scored it another point for Roberts. Jane Roberts gave her husband a kiss. Schumer went outside to the cameras, where he observed, a bit wistfully, that Roberts "is a very, very smart man."

In yesterday's second day of questioning Roberts, the confirmation hearing had lost much of what little suspense it had in the first place. The only speculation in the halls outside the hearing was how many, if any, Democrats on the committee would vote for Roberts en route to his all-but-certain confirmation.

On Tuesday, Jane Roberts was so confident about her husband's fate that she was seen dozing on camera as her husband answered questions. By yesterday, there was not much left in the way of either questions or answers. Roberts avoided any query on a topic that might come before the high court -- which is to say most any question senators wished to ask. The result: Democrats and Republicans alike used the bulk of their time for speechmaking.

The conservatives blew kisses to Roberts.

"I've never seen anyone do a better job," said Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (Utah). "You have made a very, very strong presentation here.

Lindsey Graham (S.C.) called Roberts "the most qualified justice in my lifetime" and added: "Obviously, he's read every case ever written and memorized it."

Sen. John Cornyn (Tex.) dashed to the microphones during a break and shoved aside John Marshall, Oliver Wendell Holmes and Felix Frankfurter. Roberts, Cornyn said, is probably "the most qualified nominee who has ever been put up for a Supreme Court vacancy."

Awash in flattery, Roberts grew more brash in declining to answer the Democrats' questions.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (Calif.) observed that on Tuesday morning, "you were very full and forward-speaking. And then after lunch, it was as if you shut down and became very cautious. So my first question: Did anybody caution you between the morning and the afternoon sessions?"