Alito Hearings: Dumbest Question

The dumbest question in the Senate hearings regarding the Samuel Alito Supreme Court nomination I have heard (outside of almost everything burping out of Ted Kennedy's large head) is the following from Senator Charles Schumer:

SCHUMER: Does the Constitution protect the right to free speech?

ALITO: Certainly it does. That's in the First Amendment.

SCHUMER: So why can't you answer the question of: Does the Constitution protect the right to an abortion the same way without talking about stare decisis, without talking about cases, et cetera?

ALITO: Because answering the question of whether the Constitution provides a right to free speech is simply responding to whether there is language in the First Amendment that says that the freedom of speech and freedom of the press can't be abridged. Asking about the issue of abortion has to do with the interpretation of certain provisions of the Constitution.

SCHUMER: Well, OK. I know you're not going to answer the question…

Freedom of speech? Check the First Amendment.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

You can Google the Constitution. You can search it in Word. You can Lexis/WestLaw search it. Not one of these search methods will return the word "abortion." Manually search it a word at time. I dare you. You won't find it. Schumer went to law school. He should know this. Wasn't he paying attention in class? Did he read his casebooks? It takes an elementary ability to read to figure this one out.

At this point, it isn't really a question of how stupid these senators think the American people are. What is on display is just how stupid and childish the Democrats on the Judiciary Committee are.