by Dan Froomkin
One of the most important duties of the Senate has become arguably the most hopeless exercise on Capitol Hill.
Confirmation hearings for top judicial posts – the primary mechanism by which the Senate exercises its constitutional responsibility to "advise and consent" on the appointment of judges – have become laugh-or-cry charades in which nominees endlessly repeat boilerplate explanations for why they can't answer even the most basic questions about their judicial philosophies.
And the Senators serve as nothing more than props.
