Those bothering to watch the confirmation hearings for Judge Samuel Alito are being treated to the Senate’s inner workings and finer intellects. Sen. Ted Kennedy’s temper tantrum against Sen. Arlen Specter should be the talk of evening news shows (the Washington Post website is already featuring it). But you know it’s bad when even the New York Times‘ correspondent, Elisabeth Bumiller, is moved to mock the Senators for their vanity and verbosity. Postie Dana Milbank, typically no friend of Bush or his allies in his critical portraits of Washington goings-on, noted the Senators’ tendency to soliloquies. And then there was Russ Feingold, apparently fresh from reading the Village Voice, questioning Judge Alito’s integrity and honesty without a shred of evidence.

If the Senate is the dignified side of Congress, I’ll take the House.