The Quad Split -- Watch and Learn

I'm a sucker for discussions of Supreme Court cases, probably because it takes me back to my Con Law classes in college. Big Issues discussed in Little Legalese -- what could be better? So I've been imbibing huge gulps of the Alito hearings, once the opening statements wound down. CNN, which in years past would be my network of choice for hearings coverage, drove me crazy two ways. First, in insisting on covering the story for much of the time with the Quad Split -- a four-way divide of the TV screen, with a different image on each quadrant, usually a shot of Alito, a shot of his questioner (so far, so good) and then, inexplicably, a long shot of the hearing room and a LIVE!!!!! exterior shot of the Supreme Court. What those last two shots add to your understanding of the questions, or the answers, is, in a word, fucking nothing. But the Quad Split is living, pixillating proof the CNN-US topper Jonathan Klein is in love with the look of the Situation Room.

Second way the network drove me nuts was, each time they chose to take a commercial break, CNN had Wolf Blitzer shilling for Pipeline, the network's subscription broadband business. "We're taking a break, but remember, you can get the hearings uninterrupted by going to...." Yes, true enough, oh, tireless promo reader, but I could also get the hearings uninterrupted on NPR and C-SPAN for free! Bite your Pipeline, Mr. B.