As expected, former White House counsel Harriet Miers has failed to appear for today's hearing of the House Judiciary Committee's Commercial and Administrative Law Subcommittee. That's given C-SPAN's camera operators an opportunity to get the poignant shots that don't normally happen in congressional hearings. On several occasions, they've cut away from the members of the subcommittee to show the chair at which Miers would be sitting had she appeared, complete with a card on the witness table that reads "Ms. Miers."

Miers' absence has provoked some passionate remarks by subcommittee chair Rep. Linda Sanchez, D-Calif., Judiciary Committee chair Rep. John Conyers Jr., D-Mich., and subcommittee ranking member Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah. The hearing is currently continuing -- we'll have updates on exactly what was said, as well as the final outcome of the hearing, a little later.