Glacial

And I'm going down, all the way down
I'm on the highway to hell
--Highway to Hell, AC/DC

If this is Judge Marcia Cooke's expression on the first day of jury selection, I wonder how her enthusiasm will hold up for the entirety of the actual trial.

Back in Padillaville (''Jury Selection Moves Slowly for Padilla Trial,'' Curt Anderson, AP), Ranger can't help but wonder why Padilla was not bound over for trial back in 2002? The selection last week was described as moving at a ''glacial pace,'' yet 28 people out of the ultimately hoped for 90 potential candidates had been chosen by week's end. This, after five years of no movement for resolution and a constant media barrage.

Isn't this why that U.S. has a federal court system that expends big chunks of our tax dollars every year? While not speedy, if this pace is considered glacial, I would like to know how the federal government's pace could be described...sclerotic?