There's a good chance that, unless you purposely seek out information like this, you didn't hear about William Pryor's hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday. Byron York has a good column on it at National Review Online. All I can say is, I love Bill Pryor. May his tribe increase.

Pryor has said some very blunt things in the past. For example, he's a vigorous opponent of abortion and has called the Roe v. Wade decision "the worst abomination in the history of constitutional law."

The quote appears in every anti-Pryor tract produced by the liberal interest groups that oppose his nomination. Before the hearing, Pryor no doubt knew that more than one senator would read his words to him and ask for an explanation. And indeed, right off the bat, New York Democrat Charles Schumer recited the "abomination" line and asked, "Do you believe that now?"

It was the perfect moment for Pryor to begin a backpedaling, thank-you-for-your-question-and-please-confirm-me explanation. Instead, Pryor said, simply, "I do."

Schumer looked slightly amazed. "I appreciate your candor," he said. "I really do."

Later, Pennsylvania Republican Arlen Specter went over the same ground. Did Pryor really say such a thing? Specter asked. Was the quote accurate?

Yes, Pryor said, the quote was accurate.

Did Pryor stand by his words?

"I stand by that comment," Pryor said. "I believe that not only is [Roe] unsupported by the text and structure of the Constitution, but it has led to a morally wrong result. It has led to the slaughter of millions of innocent unborn children."

Specter seemed more than a little chagrined. "Well," he said, pausing for a moment and looking down, "let's move on."

I'm disturbed that I hear so little, even among my conservative, Christian friends, about these judicial nominations. As I've said many times before (and as only the radical left has seemed to recognize consistently), the judiciary is the whole ball of wax in today's climate. If we neglect the courts in favor of other "initiatives," it all goes to waste. Every bit of it.