At Final Day of Roberts Hearings, Hatch Snaps . . . and Snaps

The committee's two partisan bookends, Schumer and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.), were in a grudge match. The New York Democrat, speaking of Republicans, condemned "extreme groups and individuals."

Cornyn fired back that Democrats were spouting "the exact opposite of the truth" and argued that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg supported legal "prostitution and polygamy, and she opposed Mother's and Father's days as discriminatory occasions."

Even after three committee Democrats endorsed Roberts, Cornyn railed that "the days of bipartisanship when it comes to supporting judicial nominees to the Supreme Court -- sadly, I believe they appear to be over."

The normally genial Grassley briefly joined the partisans. "I would like to speak to just Republican members of the committee at this particular time and not the Democratic members," he announced.

"Should we stop listening?" Leahy asked.

"Yes, you can stop listening," Grassley said.

Graham tried to provide a counterpoint to the bitterness. He urged his fellow senators not to question the motives of their opponents, and he called on President Bush to name a second nominee "who loves the law more than they love politics."

"Liberals and conservatives come and go, but the rule of law is bigger than all of our philosophies," Graham said.

Sen. Sam Brownback, who skipped most of the hearing, didn't agree with that bit about law trumping philosophy. The Kansas Republican arrived at the hearing room with a 14-year-old girl suffering from Down syndrome and, as the smiling girl stood behind him, made an impassioned anti-abortion argument. We "celebrate her," Brownback said, "and yet in the womb, 80 percent are killed."

Hatch began reaching into his pocket. But he apparently reconsidered and did not pull out his camera phone. This moment would not be recorded as part of Hatch's Excellent Adventure.