The Senate's confirmation of Glenn Kim to be a Circuit Court judge over the adverse recommendation of the Judiciary Committee had a lot to do with the unsettled state of Democratic politics in the Senate, but it also should serve as a lesson in humility for Sen. Clayton Hee, the judiciary chairman.

And if Hee ever hopes to fully capitalize on his considerable talents and reach his political potential, it's a lesson he needs to finally take to heart.

It was a stinging rebuke to the judiciary chairman when 11 Democrats joined with five Republicans to approve Kim 16 to 9 after the committee had urged rejecting his nomination, arguing that he lacked a proper judicial temperament.

The reversal was a major embarrassment for new Senate President Colleen Hanabusa, who felt obliged to back the committee and go down with Hee on the losing side.

To put it bluntly, the problem with Hee is that he projects an inflated sense of self-importance, gets off on using his official authority to lord over people who have business with the Legislature and doesn't treat those who come before his committee with respect.

He's been making noises ever since he became judiciary chairman this year that he planned to give Gov. Linda Lingle's appointees a hard time and claim a scalp or two. By failing to clearly articulate policy concerns, he leaves a strong impression that it's mostly about throwing his weight around.

The Kim hearing before the Judiciary Committee didn't rise to Senate Republican leader Fred Hemmings' accusations of "McCarthyism," but it did have the feel of a kangaroo court with a predetermined outcome rather than an honest exercise in fact-finding.

The conduct of the inquiry was often amateurish and overly dramatic as Hee led the panel into a bizarre examination of Kim's use of the F-word and gave undue weight to complaints against Kim by a couple of former co-workers over the testimony of many other credible witnesses who vouched for his legal credentials and character.

Hee accused Kim of lacking an open mind when he tried to defend himself against charges that he was disrespectful to women, and the notoriously foul-tempered chairman drew ridicule for centering his objections on Kim's disposition.

In the end, going along with Hee's recommendation to reject Kim would have made the Senate look bad after such a shabby review of his qualifications, and the majority of Hee's colleagues wisely declined to follow his lead.

Hee would be smart to take the advice he gave Kim and open his eyes to the possibility that others see him differently than he sees himself; his attack on Kim's temperament is not the first seemingly hypocritical salvo he's launched in the heat of political battle.

He once derided Hemmings for his Punahou-Outrigger background when his own son attended Punahou and played volleyball for the Outrigger Club. When Hee was at the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, he accused fellow trustee Oswald Stender of being un-Hawaiian for holding a meeting at the Pacific Club when the wedding reception for Hee's first marriage was held there.

Hee has obvious political skills and the ability to get himself into positions of leadership wherever he goes, but he limits his prospects for achievement with a ham-fisted manner of exercising power that ultimately wears out his welcome among colleagues.

Voters ousted him from the Senate once before after a similar wild run as judiciary chairman, and he made weak showings in campaigns for lieutenant governor and Congress.

Hee talks a lot about humility, but if he wants to be a real leader, he needs to live it and not just say it.

David Shapiro, a veteran Hawai'i journalist, can be reached by e-mail at dave@volcanicash.net. Read his daily blog at blogs.honoluluadvertiser.com.