Today is the first day of the confirmation hearing for potential Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomajor. The morning and afternoon so far has consisted of Senators on the Judiciary Committee giving 10-minute speeches. For the most part, Democrats talked about how amazing her life story is, while Republicans mostly talked about her “wise Latina” statement and the questions it raises about her potential to be an objective judge. Others used it as a chance to discuss not only their judicial philosophy, but their overall vision of government. While boring at times, it was very enlightening. I recommend everyone pay as much attention to these hearings as you can. You will learn a lot about what our government representatives think, and it will force you to refine your own views.

In a nutshell, based on today’s speeches, Republicans seem to think that judges should read the letter of the law and simply be robots. Democrats seem to think that judges are supposed to have empathy for the underdog in a legal case. I don’t think either of these two views fits my idea of what a Supreme Court judge is supposed to do, since laws are not always clear in their scope or language, but rules should be as clearly defined as possible so that people can make important decisions about their lives knowing what to expect, whether they are rich or poor.

I most closely line up with Lindsay Graham based on his speech this morning. He said that while he wants to question her statement that she is a “better” judge because she is a Latina woman, his basic view is this: Obama won, he got to pick his nominee, and unless there is something glaringly wrong with her, she should be approved. A lot of Democrats, including Obama himself, seem to think that now too. However they did not think that when they voted to filibuster Alito and voted against Alito and Roberts. Obama himself said that Roberts was without question extremely competent and qualified to sit on the court — but he voted against him anyway, purely because of his political beliefs. For him to expect Republicans to do otherwise with Sotomayor would be hypocritical (but since when do we expect anything else from politicians?). Graham mentioned in his speech that Scalia was approved almost unanimously despite the fact that his conservative view of the law was widely acknowledged by everyone in the Senate. Back then, Senators seemed to believe that if someone was competent, their political philosophy was irrelevant. In the last few decades, the Supreme Court has become yet one more area in which our politicians have increasingly polarized the country, divided people instead of uniting them.

I am not sure what Dianne Feinstein was trying to accomplish with her speech, but she makes a convincing argument for Republicans to vote against Sotomayor. Instead of talking about Sotomayor, Feinstein used much of her 10 minutes to blast Chief Justice Roberts. She argued that Senators can’t just look at someone’s previous rulings or listen to what she tells them in these hearings — if you did, then how do you explain Roberts’ rulings, some of which overturned legal precedents? While Feinstein may have a very good point, her argument directly implies that Republicans should not look at Sotomayor’s previous rulings at all (which Democrats are hailing as mainstream and not the least bit controversial, and they have a valid point here), and should look at the controversial things she has said and her political beliefs instead, as a way of gauging what she is likely to do once she is on the Supreme Court and not subject to review by any higher court. Feinstein has given Republicans a great excuse to vote against confirming Sotomayor despite her substantive record. Oops.

While I have learned a lot by watching the hearings today, this whole ordeal seems like so much unnecessary theater. Republicans grill her, while Democrats glowingly praise her. When she takes the stage, she will repeat the refrain that she will uphold the rule of law above all else (“fidelity to the law” was her catchphrase today). In the end, she will be approved. And none of the questions anybody asks her, nor any of the statements any of these Senators make, will factor into the decisions she makes once she is on the Court.

One thing upon which I hope we can all agree: it’s fun to say the word Sotomayor.