John Roberts showed a perfect understanding of the proper role of the judiciary during his confirmation hearing opening statement:
The appellate judge likened jurists to baseball umpires, saying that "they make sure everybody plays by the rules, but it is a limited role. Nobody ever went to a ballgame to see the umpire."
Too many people, including an unfortunate number of senators conducting the hearing, think the umpire should change the rules in the middle of the game, which is what they mean when they start talking about the Constitution as a "living document." (But the baseball analogy, we are reminded, is not as simple as it seems.) And, as noted often before, this will be a tough call for Evan Bayh.
