Everyone knows that Elena Kagan's going to get confirmed by the Democratic majority in the Senate, so it's too bad that she won't answer anyone's questions. I listened to the hearings for a while this morning, and she ducked every single serious issue, hiding behind the notion that she can't discuss current issues, the court itself, or any issue that might come before the court.

Kagan's not the only guilty party here; this game's been going on for years. Remember when Clarence Thomas said he had no opinion on Roe v. Wade?

I'm sure Kagan will be fine on the court -- not great, not inspiring, but perfectly adequate in that centrist I'm-really-a-liberal-but-embarassed-to-show-it way. She's also, clearly, a very intelligent person who has spent years studying and thinking about Constitutional law. It's crazy that she couldn't have an honest discussion with the Senate Judiciary Committee. We all could have learned a lot from it.