GOP Says "Confirm First, Ask Questions Never"

CBS News' legal analyst Andrew Cohen asks two good questions about the hearings to confirm Supreme Court nominee John Roberts: "What's the point of having a Committee confirmation hearing if a majority on the Committee don't want the nominee to say too much about the issues that are relevant to his role? What's the point of having a hearing if it isn't meaningful?"

Republicans spent most of the first day of the hearings telling the public that there really is no need for Roberts to answer any questions at all. As Cohen put it, " one of the clearest and most ironic themes to emerge from an otherwise drowsy day of tired rhetoric was the consistent push by GOP Committee members to offer Roberts all sorts of legal and political justifications that would allow him to effectively thwart the very purposes behind the hearing itself."

Sure, Roberts has been a judge for all of three years. And yes, he is being nominated to the most powerful legal position in America. But according to the GOP, the public shouldn't ask any questions before giving him a lifetime appointment to the highest court in the land. Incredible.

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