Remember the Laughter

The final gavel has fallen on the Alito hearings and the laughter has faded away. Here is the final laugh tote board. Senator Specter led the from post to post, but he had the major advantage of being the committee chairman with all of the comedic opportunities that that position brings. The Senators who didn’t elicit any laughs throughout the hearings (known as the Hugh Hewitt’s of the Judiciary Committee) were: Kyl (R-AZ), Kohl (D-WI), DeWine (R-OH), Durbin (D-IL), Brownback (R-TX), and Coburn (R-OK).

1. Chairman Specter (R-PA)....... 36
2. Judge Alito .................. 20
3. Senator Graham (R-SC) ........ 17
4. Senator Leahy (D-VT) ......... 10
5. Senator Hatch (R-UT) ......... 8
6. Senator Kennedy (D-MA) ....... 5
6. Senator Grassley (R-IA) ...... 5
8. Senator Biden (D-DE) ......... 4
8. Senator Schumer (D-NY) ....... 4
8. Unknown quipsters ............ 4
11. Senator Sessions (R-AL) ..... 3
11. Judge Aldisert .............. 3
11. Judge Garth ................. 3
14. Senator Feinstein (D=CA) .... 2
14. Senator Cornyn (R-TX) ....... 2
14. Tober (of the ABA) .......... 2
17. Senator Feingold (D-WI) ..... 1
17. Senator Lautenberg (D-NJ) ... 1
17. Judge Lewis ................. 1
17. Judge Gibbons ............... 1

There were a total of 132 laugh producing lines throughout the hearings, according to the transcripts in the Washington Post.