M O N D A Y , S E P T E M B E R 1 2 , 2 0 0 5Roberts Hearings: Judges Are Just Umpires,Not Playersby Michael in New York on 9/12/2005 04:00:00 PMJohn Roberts finally spoke after hours of listening to Democratsraise concerns about his spotty record and hostility toprotecting the basic rights of all Americans while Republicanslike Texas Senator John Cornyn belittled the "unelected judges"and the very institution Roberts was hoping to join.Roberts spoke simply and directly and it seems highly unlikely-- without some surpise gaffe or new info -- that he'll berejected.</p><p> It also seems unlikely he'll get broad, bipartisansupport, which is appropriate for a nominee so nebulous it'sdifficult to tell how radically conservative (or, who knows,mainstream) he might be.Roberts made one nice analogy: he said that judges are likeumpires; they don't make the rules, they simply apply them."And no one ever went to a baseball game to watch anumpire."Here's my rejoinder:Anyone who has ever worked as an umpire knows the rulebook can never anticipate every situation. (My mother andbrother have worked as professional tennis umpires fordecades.) In fact, it's a rare tournament where an umpire isn'tcalled on to rule on an unusual, even unique set ofcircumstances.</p><p> Umpires must also use their sound professionaljudgment -- something fans often disagree with and loudly.</p><p> Butno one ever took a vote on whether the pitch was a ball or astrike at a baseball game.</p><p> If all umpires had to do was look upa particular rule, a child could do it.</p><p> And times change -- newsurroundings, new types of players, new tools (like on-the-horizon instant replay) mean the game of baseball as playedtoday is radically different from the game played 100 years agoand umpires need to understand that.From the memos we've seen, if Roberts were the umpire incharge just 50 years ago, when blacks wanted to join the gamehe would have shrugged his shoulders and said, "Them's therules." When women wanted to join the game, Roberts wouldhave laughed and said, "Girls don't care about sports." Whenthe players kicked off a teammate because he was gay, Robertswould have said, "Tough.</p><p> Baseball has always been played bystraight white men." And when the air became so polluted thatplayers got ill simply trying to play the game, Roberts wouldhave asked, "What can I do?"Is that the kind of umpire we want? Daily KosOpen Thread and Diary Rescue - *Tonight's crew ofRescue Rangers were vcmvo2, grog, dopper0189,shayera, and joyful.</p><p> In the meantime, dadanationlooked editorial.</p><p> Oh yeah, a big shout ...16 minutes ago HuffPost PoliticsMark Joseph: Nice Try Mr.</p><p> President; Hold The Beer& Get The Tape - So, President Obama wants theProf and the Cop to come to the White House, havea beer and make nice? 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