Below is my column in The Hill on the renewed attacks on Justice Samuel Alito after a liberal activist secretly taped a dinner conversation with him and his wife. The feigned outrage of pundits and politicians is absurdly unconnected to anything even remotely surprising or unethical in the comments.
Here is the column:
In a world of moral relativism, Lauren Windsor may reign supreme. The Democratic activist recently lied to justices in order to record answers at a dinner.
In an interview with CNN, the filmmaker (who has been lionized by many in the media for her dishonesty) cheerfully explained that she lies to “elicit truths that serve the greater public good.”
The “greater good” is to contribute to a campaign of harassment and attacks on Supreme Court justices by academics, the media and Democratic members. The chief target of these efforts lately has been the author of the decision that overturned Roe v. Wade, Justice Samuel Alito.
For years, the left has maintained a well-funded, unrelenting campaign against the court and its conservative majority. This has included an effort by such figures as Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) to pack the court immediately with a liberal majority. Warren declared that the court must be packed because it is daring to oppose “widely held public opinion.”
The statement, of course, ignores that the court was designed to resist public pressure (and even members of Congress) in order to protect the constitutional rights and liberties of minority groups.
Unsurprisingly, the usual suspects have assembled again to call for resignations and impeachments after Windsor’s surreptitious taping of both Alito and Chief Justice John Roberts. That includes Warren, who declared that “Alito is an extremist who is out of touch with mainstream America. His rising power on the Supreme Court is a threat to our democracy.”
It did not matter that what Windsor captured on her secret recording was neither surprising nor unethical. Pretending to be a religious conservative at a dinner of the Supreme Court Historical Society, Windsor successfully induced the deeply religious Alito to say . . . wait for it . . . that he believes the country should return to a place of “godliness.”
It was an otherworldly moment as this notoriously anti-conservative activist asked an unsuspecting Alito why the nation was so filled with rage. In the recording, Alito laments the divisions in the country, stating, “I wish I knew. I don’t know. It’s easy to blame the media, but I do blame them because they do nothing but criticize us. And so they have really eroded trust in the court…American citizens in general need to work on this to heal this polarization because it’s very dangerous.”
When pushed on what the court can do, Alito again answered honestly: “I don’t think it’s something we can do. We have a very defined role and we need to do what we’re supposed to do. But this is a bigger problem. This is way above us.”
There is nothing even slightly controversial there. But the quote being repeated, often in isolation, was when Alito acknowledged that, while “there can be a way of working, a way of living together peacefully…it’s difficult, you know, because there are differences on fundamental things that really can’t be compromised. They really can’t be compromised. So, it’s not like you are going to split the difference.”
Warren and others already prove that very point on the left, as do many on the right. Again, this is not at all controversial. We are divided because people hold irreconcilable beliefs on which they are unwilling to compromise. Imagine the reaction of liberals if Justice Sonia Sotomayor suddenly “compromised” on abortion rights.
But pundits and politicians have since lined up, feigning vapors at the thought of a justice saying privately that he believed in “godliness” and had little hope of “compromise” on many issues.
Warren seemed beside herself with shock, acting as if Alito’s bland, obvious observation were some clear sign of political bias: “I am most concerned about the appearance that Justice Alito has prejudged cases that will come before him. That is one of the biggest sins that a judge or justice can commit.” Bear in mind, these are the words of a senator seeking to pack the court with an ideological majority to give predictable rulings on major cases.
Likewise, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) declared the tape to be proof that Alito is “a movement activist,” while Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D.-Conn.) denounced Alito’s “outrageous” behavior. Of course, the lying democratic activist was not outrageous, but the justice was outrageous in sharing his observation in a private conversation that the nation is irreconcilably divided on major issues.
Warren, Whitehouse, Blumenthal and many of the same pundits were strangely silent when liberal justices such as Ruth Bader Ginsburg engaged in actual partisanship, as when she openly opposed the election of Donald Trump and discussed cases and controversies that might come before her. There was no demand for a resignation when Justice Sonia Sotomayor called upon students to politically oppose pro-life laws after acknowledging, “they tell me I shouldn’t.” There were no vapors at the thought of justices expressing their political sentiments from the left.
Media even cleaned up interviews for liberal justices. Katie Couric famously deleted disparaging comments made by Ginsburg about players kneeling during the National Anthem at NFL games, even though that matter could have ended up before the Supreme Court.
What is most galling is the pile-on over not just this manufactured controversy, but the earlier controversy over flags. Years ago, one of the best reporters at the Washington Post investigated a report that the Alitos had flown an upside-down American flag, to see if it was a political statement associated with Trump. Robert Barnes interviewed neighbors and concluded that it was not Justice Alito but his wife Martha-Ann who had hoisted the flag. Mrs. Alito, he learned, was responding to an ongoing spat with a neighbor.
Barnes and the Post responsibly decided not to run the story. That type of journalistic restraint is now anathema in our age of rage, with reporters denouncing the Post for failing to run a “blockbuster” story.
This was then amplified when the public was told that Mrs. Alito had also hoisted at one of their properties the Revolutionary War-era “Appeal to Heaven” flag, which has enjoyed something of a revival since it featured in the introductory sequence of the acclaimed 2008 miniseries on the career of President John Adams.
It is not clear how that story was a “blockbuster” — that a justice has a wife with a flag fetish, which includes flying the historic Pine Tree Flag. (Tellingly and amusingly, after the left added that flag to its list of Alito’s transgressions, Democratic politicians suddenly had to scramble to remove it from their own buildings to clear the way for the outrage.)
Of course, Windsor also targeted Mrs. Alito in her secret recordings at the dinner. The media again pounced on a line where she complained of “feminazi” critics and added, “Don’t get angry. Get even!”
That statement followed her suggestion that they may sue for defamation, and that “there’s a five-year defamation statute of limitations.” She also added that her husband had tried to keep her from flying her flags and getting into neighborhood spats, but that “he never controls me.” Indeed, she said he had prevailed on her not to fly a Sacred Heart of Jesus flag, but that she was not giving up the ghost even on that flag.
Windsor generously allowed that a Supreme Court spouse “certainly” has a right to speak, before adding that expected “but!” Such liberty, she asserted, may not apply to Mrs. Alito “when your spouse is one of the most powerful men in the country, you know, with his fingers on the scale, literally, of justice. I mean, are we going to say that we are going to do away with impartiality, the bedrock principle of our democracy, of our jurisprudence? Is it okay?”
Well, the answer is yes, Miss Windsor. It is okay.
We do not require justices to divorce outspoken or irascible spouses. We do not punish them for speaking freely in private conversations with bottom-feeding gotcha activists who secretly record them at dinners.
Justices are even allowed to have strong opinions about controversial issues in dinner conversations. Strong personal opinions do not on their own constitute conflicts of interest.
None of this will matter, of course. Democrats will continue to chase Alito around the Beltway like a scene out of Lord of the Flies. The absurd demands for meetings with justices and threats of subpoenas will continue to thrill liberal voters.
It is all part of the threats made by Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) on the steps of the Supreme Court. Schumer threatened the conservative justices, “You have released the whirlwind and you will pay the price! You won’t know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions.”
It is an extension of the pledge by activists to change the court “by any means necessary.” While thankfully denouncing the attempted assassination of Justice Bret Kavanaugh, liberals have proposed “more aggressive” targeting of justices at their homes, bribing conservatives to retire, and literally cutting off the justices’ air conditioning.
As Windsor explained, it is all just for “the greater good.”
Jonathan Turley is the J.B. and Maurice C. Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at the George Washington University Law School. He is the author of The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage (Simon & Schuster 2024)
JJC, from your lips to God’s ears, the ultimate invisible hand!
Nope. It’s real outrage. And if Alito and Thomas were men of principal and not fully afflicted b holes they each would’ve resigned months ago in shame.
Bonus point: Warren is not seeking to pack the court, she’s seeking to unpack it.
Term limits. Every president gets to nominate 2 new justices during their term. Right now, albeit with tragic results, the Court has become a complete laughingstock. As have enablers such as Turley.
It’s Flag Day everybody (otherwise known as Mrs. Alito’s Superbowl)
Happy flag day to Mrs Alito
Democrats are lying, child-castrating scum, and words are merely tools for them – not to communicate, but to ensure their own dominance. They will literally say anything, no matter how outrageous, absurd or downright stupid, to get their way. Therefore, it is best to not treat them with any deference, or to give serious consideration to anything they say. Julius Streicher would have given anything to be alive now, and be a Democrat.
Should Justice Alito have disagreed, and said instead that the nation should turn away from godliness? Maybe more towards satanism?
Turning away from godliness means turning towards rationalism.
There is no god.
Man created god, not the other way around.
Religion is nothing more than a security blanket for weak minded people who are afraid of the dark.
Religion is like a penis. It is a perfectly fine thing for one to have and take pride in, but when one takes it out and waves it my face we have a problem.
We wiretapped the incoming president, for the greater good.
We made up a pee tape, for the greater good.
We went heavy on the lawfare, for the greater good.
Feel free to add to this list, there’s plenty more.
Dear Mr. Turley, thank you for allowing folks like me and others to share thoughts. Regarding the secret recording, isn’t it against the law to secretly record someone? Law enforcement needs to get a judge involved before recording anyone without their knowledge. Will she be arrested? The example of Linda Tripp comes to mind. She went through the ringer over her secret recording of Monica Lewinsky. Most likely the stress of it all led her to an early grave.
So much interest in Alito’s wife flying a flag but no interest Hamas supporters flying a terrorist flag and threatening American Jews.
This is however the new typical left “progressive”. They have no sense of history because the don’t know history and they have never understood the concept that history ebbs and flows and the character of our country over the centuries has been to slowly swing back and forth between liberal and conservative. They don’t understand, since they don’t know history or civics, that the Supreme Court is supposed to be the counterbalance to the legislature and the president as well as the guardian and interpreter of the Constitution. It’s also that they only understand the 1st part of the sentence in the 1st Amendment “That congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of a religion” but totally fail to read or understand the 2nd part “nor prohibit the free practice thereof”. That’s because they never believed or understood the real meaning or idea of context and how it frames every word or action.
It’s almost like, in medical terms, they have a receptive aphasia, meaning that what they hear, especially in certain areas of concept and subtlety, is gibberish and what we hear is language and the spoken word. It’s almost like that part of their brains has been excised or severely damaged.
Schumer is a special case because he knows better and was at one time a reasoned liberal that appeared to be a worthy opponent and a significant improvement over Harry Reid. One wonders if Schumer has had a stroke or is just playing to the audience to keep his job.
In Sen Fetterman’s case it seems like his stroke may have let the context and subtlety part be awakened or the behavioral inbitors have have been removed and something else has sprung forth.
Old style Liberals could swing my position with cogent and reasoned arguments in certain areas. That’s why senators like Hubert Humphrey and Joe Lieberman are and remain favorites of mine. The present left just pisses me off by their stupidity and narrowed mindedness.
Also It would seem Mrs. Alito would liven up the talk at any Dinner table. I’d like to hear more. She seems a lot like my wife. There is no way on earth that I could “control’ her. It might prove fatal to my well being
@GEB
Same here. But as much as I like those people, I am never voting dem, for anything, ever again, and for me that is final.
Leave it to MSCCCP. Par for the course. On par with Chelsea Handler: Just for reference https://tinyurl.com/mw7vs9zt
The Press has turned into a propaganda arm of the Democrat party. They will print absurd misinformation and hide factual information in an attempt to promote their Democrat overlords. The insanity of how they distort the meaning of everything is becoming their mantra a la Clinton asking for a definition of “is”. The Press, empowered by the power-hungry Dems has made the US a polarized country and one that is a laughing stock. Now they can’t tell the truth as to whether the border “is” secure when it’s obviously not, if police force “is” needed or just social workers, if a President “is” corrupt when he and his family shakedown countries for cash via Hunter, if inflation “is” hurting the middle class, or the most fundamental scientific fact, if a boy “is” a girl when he isn’t. The Press and the Dems lack any honesty and any valor – other than that which they steal.
the focus is on Justice Alito and his wife to detract from the mentally incompetent Joseph Biden.
At the G-7 Meeting today, the G-7 Leaders had to cover for him during a photo-op – they all noticed he wandered off, and Italian Prime Minster Meloni had to rescue him. Caught on video recording, all viral as of this moment – except for DNC/MSM state owned media
It is being reported globally that Biden is mentally incapacitated. Justice Alito is merely a devout Catholic with unwavering principles (unlike Joe Biden)
Estovir,
Pretty sad when it is India Today that you have to find coverage of Biden’s latest senior moment.
It has also been noted Biden did not attend the G7 dinner either.
Upstate, it was past his bedtime 😉
This is why I believe there will not be a fair and trusted election. The Left will not allow power to be taken from their blood stained hands. They rig elections, they rig the courts, they rig the news, they rig congressional investigations, they rig social media….the only way they can sustain power is by rigging.
OTOH, Republicans enjoy saber rattling, issuing warnings and pissing in their pants when Democrats challenge them
Deport all Members of Congress to Gaza, Ukraine or anywhere but CONUS. Heck, drop them all off in Haiti and see how that goes.
I’m not a fan of gotcha journalism. Both sides do it, and it has a bad look.
That being said, I honestly believe James O’Keefe has revealed more truth than all the leftwing scribblers combined.
It’s not an endorsement of O’Keefe. It’s a sad comment on American liberals today. Corruption and gaslighting have become their toolbox.
Corruption and gaslighting have become their toolbox.
Diogenes, the difference is the truth this activist revealed is non-controversial. So as a result, and to your point, they need to gaslight their base to get them outraged.
Diogenes, O’Keefe is a hero. I agree with you. His disclosures disclosed corruption and hypocrites that were lying and not following the law. Bad people don’t like him and bad people tried to do him in.
“Let Them Eat Cake” the Faux Outrage.
Breakfast of Dilettantes.
Once again, the leftists display their absurdity for the whole world to see.
Adam Smith introduced us to the concept of the “invisible hand” which he said produced beneficial economic and social goals because of the accumulated self-interested actions of individuals. Princeton political scientist Fred Greenstein said Eisenhower often utilized a “hidden hand.” This was Ike’s way of working behind the scenes effectively to get done what he wanted. Books have been written on the meaning of these metaphors that seem to be understood as soon as one brings them up. I think we should never underestimate the collective force of the people, each one of whom has self-interested goals, expressed or otherwise.
When that force coalesces, that is when added from millions of people, the hidden or invisible hand produces visible results. We are moving toward this in the fall election. Regardless of party – or no party at all – people see their self-interest, their goals, the things they see as providing social and economic benefits for themselves and their loved ones evaporating before their eyes, little by little, day by day, and for no good reason. That force is the collective force of millions of people feeling the same effect of an invisible hand that they know better than anyone else is in charge.
Unlike all the other forces and influences out there, the invisible one must prevail because it is felt, not talked about, debated, or spun by unethical media. It is the Darwinian principle that guides humanity, the self-preservation goal that worked even while the boys of Pointe du Hoc were climbing the cliffs to their almost certain death. It’s a power greater than that of any politician and best of all, it’s invisible and can only be felt, never seen. But it’s there.
people thought the Fascist Nazis of Germany 1930’s were absurd.
We need to jail the CRIMINAL Fascist Democrats across government by THE 1000’s
Russian Hoax, Unnecessary Ukraine War, Jan 6th, Persecution of Trump and the people around him, IRS, DOJ, CDC, etc…for ALL THEIR Many crimes
Then cut ALL Federal Aid to cities, states, non-profits and colleges. #DefundDemocrats
TAKE AWAY CENTRAL POWER by cutting 50% of Federal Spending!
DEMS and Media Hyper with the hope to get Justice Alito to recuse himself from the J6 and Trump cases, they will do anything but anything or simply, as with this latest, use it? The World is ending? The Liberal reporter was Looking for Fame and Attention with the hope of making a big score. The DEMS know they are not going to like whatever the Supreme Court says, it would be funny if it came down as 7 to 2 or worse 9 zip?
“Bottom-feeding gotcha activists” is one of my favorite Turleyisms to date. I couldn’t have said it better myself.
“Vapors,” couldn’t be more accurate..