Via Wonkette, check out this cool photograph (by Kevin Lamarque for Reuters), from yesterday's Roberts confirmation hearing. Here's the caption:
Supreme Court Chief Justice nominee Judge John G. Roberts listens to a question from Senator Joe Biden (D-DE) during the second day of his confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington September 13, 2005. Roberts was pressed by senators for his views on the strength of established legal precedent with regard to the controversial issue of abortion rights and the landmark Roe vs. Wade abortion case. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque.
Judge Roberts has a "deer-caught-in-headlights" expression on his face, and he looks absolutely terrified. What question from the buffoonish Senator Biden could have prompted such panic on the part of the preternaturally cool and collected John Roberts? Wonkette offers this speculation (which finds support in evidence collected here).
Okay, fine -- A3G admits that the intensity of this picture is probably due to the fact that it's an extreme close-up shot. The moment captured in this photo, far from being a dramatic confrontation, was probably quite dry and boring. But isn't it more fun to pretend otherwise?
One other observation: Judge Roberts's lovely blue eyes seem a trifle bloodshot in this pic. Perhaps Judge Roberts, renowned for his meticulous preparation as a Supreme Court oral advocate, has been staying up very late over the past few weeks, preparing frantically for his hearings?
Photo brought to my mind the unspeakable fate of Ned Beatty's character in Deliverance (but maybe that's just me...)
Posted by: LDH | September 15, 2005 at 03:22 PM
I'd be terrified too if I had to listen to Torquemada and his torturers maul me and my family for a week. Roberts is probably trying to figure out how much fun the Rack and Iron Maiden are going to be.
Or more likely, he's just astonished at the stupidity of Leahy, Kennedy and Biden.
Posted by: Ed Poinsett | September 14, 2005 at 03:19 PM
Its the contacts. Mine always give me bloodshot eyes. You can see John is wearing them in the picture. The bigger question is what John would lie about if he is willing to decieve us about needing corrective vision devices???
Posted by: jbob | September 14, 2005 at 11:54 AM