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The Incredible Arrogance of Samuel Alito

As past posts on this blog have noted, all federal judges - dismayingly, except Supreme Court justices - are bound by an ethical code of conduct which prohibits them from certain behavior, requires recusal from a case or cases if a judge cannot be unbiased, and requires that they avoid the appearance of impropriety.  Should a judge violate the code, they risk removal from office.  Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito have between them underscored the need for the same judicial code of conduct to apply to every justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. The Court has proven utterly incapable of policing itself and it is time for Congress to act and impose mandatory ethical and behavioral guidelines that have real teeth.  Thomas has demonstrated that he is for sale to the highest bidder while his lunatic (in y view) wife has shown herself to be an insurrectionist set on overthrowing the system her husband has sworn an oath to defend and uphold. Alito - who likely is also for sale to the highest bidder - however, is in some ways even more arrogant than Thomas who is simply corrupt.    Alito, in addition to his far right Catholic fanaticism is utterly contemptuous towards the rights and beliefs of others and seemingly believes he can do whatever he wants.  A column in the New York Times by a federal judge looks at Alito's arrogance.  Here are highlights:

The controversy about the decision to fly an upside-down American flag outside the home of Justice Samuel Alito recalls St. Paul’s admonition that while some things may be lawful, “not all things are helpful.”

I can offer no opinion as to whether the flag display at the justice’s house was actually unlawful. . . . To me, the flag issue is much simpler. The fact is that, regardless of its legality, displaying the flag in that way, at that time, shouldn’t have happened. To put it bluntly, any judge with reasonable ethical instincts would have realized immediately that flying the flag then and in that way was improper. And dumb.

The same goes with the flying of an “Appeal to Heaven” flag at Justice Alito’s vacation house along the New Jersey shore. Like the upside-down flag, this flag is viewed by a great many people as a banner of allegiance on partisan issues that are, or could be, before the court.

Courts work because people trust judges. Taking sides in this way erodes that trust.

In four decades as a federal judge, I have known scores, possibly hundreds, of federal trial and appellate judges pretty well. I can’t think of a single one, no matter who appointed her or him, who has engaged or would engage in conduct like that. You just don’t do that sort of thing, whether it may be considered over the line, or just edging up to the margin. Flying those flags was tantamount to sticking a “Stop the Steal” bumper sticker on your car. You just don’t do it. . . . Assuming it is true that it was Justice Alito’s wife who raised the inverted American flag, . . . . it is not unreasonable to expect a spouse to avoid embarrassing a loved one, or complicating his or her professional life. This is true not only for Supreme Court justices, but for people in many walks of life.

Let me offer an example. About 25 years ago, I presided over a death penalty case involving a nurse charged with murdering several of her patients at a Veterans Affairs hospital in Western Massachusetts. It was a tough case, regularly on the front pages of our local papers. Let’s say my wife was strongly opposed to the death penalty and wished to speak out publicly against it. I’m not saying this is true, but let’s imagine it. The primary emotional current in our marriage is, of course, deep and passionate love, but right next to that is equally deep and passionate respect. We would have had a problem, and we would have needed to talk.

In this hypothetical situation, I hope that my wife would have held off making any public statements about capital punishment, and restrained herself from talking about the issue with me, while the trial unfolded. On the other hand, if my wife had felt strongly that she needed to espouse her viewpoint publicly, I would have had to recuse myself from presiding at the case, based on the appearance of partiality.

Did Justice Alito and his wife discuss the issue about the upside-down flag before it went up? I don’t know, of course. But I do know they should have. And I know that some other method should have been found to express the couple’s unhappiness with their neighbor’s possibly crummy conduct.

The court recently adopted an ethics code to “guide the conduct” of the justices. One of its canons states that a justice should “act at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary.” That’s all very well. But basic ethical behavior should not rely on laws or regulations. It should be folded into a judge’s DNA. That didn’t happen here.

The flag display may or may not have been unlawful, but as far as the public’s perception of the court’s integrity, it certainly was not helpful.

Alito has no integrity and is utterly biased on every case that comes before him because of his extreme right wing, pro-Trump views and the 12th century Catholic dogma he clings to so desperately.  The man is unfit to be on the U.S. Supreme Court.

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Samuel Alito - A Threat to Democracy and Freedom

In addition to being a far right religious extremist who seeks to inflict his religious beliefs (which are share by other Republican zealots on the U.S. Supreme Court, Justice Samuel Alito holds democracy in contempt and seemingly is fine with seeing the American system of democracy overthrown. The irony - although not so much if one has followed the :Christian" right for decades - is that Alito loves to wear his feigned piety and religiosity on his sleeve, lies are his stock in trade, including perjuring himself during his confirmation hearings, as did Gorsuch and Coney-Barrett.  No one lies more often and viciously than they self-anointed "godly folk.  Now Alito finds himself embroiled in his apparent support for the January 6th insurrectionist, although he has tried to throw his wife under the bus rather than admit his own open hostility to fair elections if his cult leader does not win (he also has contempt for non-whites voting and would be fine with a return to the Jim Crow era).   A piece in The Atlantic looks at Alito and the malevolent threat he poses to democracy and the religious freedoms of other Americans.  Here are excerpts: 

There may be an insurrectionist justice on the Supreme Court, perhaps two. The New York Times reported yesterday that 10 days after a violent mob ransacked the Capitol in an attempt to overturn the 2020 election and keep Donald Trump in power, an upside-down American flag flew outside the home of Justice Samuel Alito. At the time, Trump supporters were using the upside-down flag as a symbol of their belief in Trump’s lies that the election had been stolen.

Trump knew those claims were false, and many conservative-media stars also knew those claims were false. Nevertheless, right-wing outlets like Fox News repeated those false claims, stirring hope among their audiences that the election outcome could be reversed by force or fraud. The conservatives who trusted those outlets clung to those beliefs, either earnestly or as an ideological expression of their more foundational belief that the constituencies of the rival party are illegitimate and their votes should not count.

Among those audiences appears to be the Alito household, which, according to the Times’ report, flew the upside-down flag for an unknown number of days, despite or because of the fact that “Trump’s supporters, including some brandishing the same symbol, had rioted at the Capitol a little over a week before.” Alito, for his part, as right-wing champions of family values are wont to do, blamed his wife.

“I had no involvement whatsoever in the flying of the flag,” the right-wing justice told the paper. “It was briefly placed by Mrs. Alito in response to a neighbor’s use of objectionable and personally insulting language on yard signs.” . . . Even accepting that this is true and that Alito’s neighbor was behaving rudely, signaling support for an insurrection is an odd way to respond to someone accusing you of supporting an insurrection.

Alito’s statement is notable because, as the Times reporter Michael Barbaro pointed out, it does not deny that the flag was flown in solidarity with the insurrectionists. It also does not disavow the insurrectionist claim that the 2020 election was stolen, and it does not condemn the Trump-directed attempt to overthrow the constitutional order that Alito has sworn an oath to uphold. Nor do the subsequent statements to Fox purporting to explain the flag’s presence. Alito is also not the only justice whose spouse seems to have supported Trump’s failed coup. The congressional investigation into the events of January 6 showed that Virginia Thomas, a conservative activist and the wife of Justice Clarence Thomas, tried to persuade Arizona Republicans to overturn the result in their state.

That raises the most important issue here, which is that Alito and Thomas sit on the nation’s highest court and are poised to rule on matters related to Trump’s attempts to unlawfully hold on to power. In one case, they already have—deciding that the Constitution’s ban on insurrectionists holding office does not disqualify Trump from running for president. The Court is set to rule on a challenge to a federal law used to prosecute the January 6 rioters, and in another case about Trump’s claim that former presidents have “absolute immunity” to prosecution for crimes committed as “official acts” in office. The 6–3 right-wing majority has made its partisan lean unmistakable. But there is still a difference between an ideologically conservative, or even partisan, Court and one with sitting justices whose worldview is so deranged by fanaticism that they would prefer the end of constitutional government to a president from the rival party.

The most charitable interpretation of Alito’s non-disavowal of the upside-down flag and its meaning is that, because the Court has several forthcoming cases related to Trump’s actions, he wanted to avoid expressing an opinion beforehand. . . . The flaw in this defense is that Alito is as shy about sharing his political opinions as a street preacher is in predicting the apocalypse.

In 2020, Alito warned that liberals were a threat to free speech. In 2021, he attacked the media for correctly reporting that the Supreme Court had nullified the right to an abortion in Texas by upholding the state’s abortion-bounty law, and was poised to overturn that right in the rest of the country. In 2022, he mocked those who criticized his ahistorical ruling in the Dobbs case, which has led to a patchwork of laws that subject women to a gender-based regime of state force and surveillance. . . . And despite all of these public statements attacking the left, particularly on matters of free speech, Alito has amassed a jurisprudential record suggesting that his interpretation of the First Amendment confers a right to monologue on those who share his beliefs.

In general, Alito has little compassion for criminal defendants, having sided with defendants the least of all the sitting Supreme Court justices. But Alito suddenly became skeptical of the fairness of the criminal-justice system when the law used to prosecute the January 6 defendants came under review, worrying that it might be used against nonviolent protesters, prompting him to ask Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar if hecklers interrupting Supreme Court proceedings would be prosecutable under the same law.

[E]arlier this month, Alito joined his right-wing colleagues in ruling that police could continue to legally seize people’s property without charging them with a crime, so his interest in due process appears to be strikingly Trump-specific.

How Alito votes in these upcoming cases will inevitably be colored by this apparent embrace of Trump’s falsehoods about voter fraud, which led to the first and only attempt by a sitting president to prevent the peaceful transfer of power.

One cannot say for certain that Alito has approached these matters the way he has because he supported Trump’s attempted coup. What we can say is that it is not unreasonable to ask whether a pro-insurrectionist justice sits on the nation’s highest court.

Alito poses a grave danger - he is an extremist and zealot who wants to force his views on all Americans and seemingly would support a dictatorship to accomplish that goal.

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Trump’s Social Media Account Shares Video Referencing "Unified Reich"

I have a number of Republican "friends" and acquaintances who continue to dismiss the threat Donald Trump (and his white Christian nationalist allies) pose to the nation should Trump and his circle of extremists regain power.  Likewise they cling to any and every far fetched article or "news" items in efforts to refute legitimate scientific and progressive positions.  I continue to have a difficult time grasping where their desperation to cling to the past and to demonize those they deem "other" comes from. Of course, they absolute height of their hypocrisy is that while they push a hate and ignorance embracing agenda, many continue to bleat about their Christian faith that utterly ignores Christ's sermon on  the mount and social agenda of welcoming strangers, helping the sick and the poor, etc.  Meanwhile, Trump continues to telegraph exactly what a second Trump regime would entail and that message ought to truly frighten who actually care about the values Christ taught and those who do not want to see horrors of the past repeated.  A piece in Politico looks at the latest frightening message from Trump and company and the pathetic effort to whitewash it.  Here are excepts:  

Donald Trump’s social media account on Monday shared a video referencing a “unified reich” in a post about how the country will change if he becomes president again.

In the video shared on Trump’s Truth Social account, while a narrator described “What happens after Donald Trump wins,” the screen twice flashed to a headline showing the words “Industrial strength significantly increased … driven by the creation of a unified reich.”

The German phrase “reich” refers to an empire, but also carries the connotation of Adolph Hitler’s “Third Reich,” another name for his Nazi regime.

“Donald Trump is not playing games; he is telling America exactly what he intends to do if he regains power: rule as a dictator over a ‘unified reich,’” Biden spokesperson James Singer said.

The video, which remained online as of Monday night, was posted shortly before Trump returned to the New York courtroom from a lunch break in his hush-money trial. It was not immediately clear who created the video.

The Associated Press first reported that the text appeared to be lifted verbatim off a Wikipedia entry for World War I, reading “German industrial strength and production had significantly increased after 1871, driven by the creation of a unified Reich.”

Trump in 2022 came under fire after having dinner at Mar-a-Lago with prominent antisemites Kanye West and Nicholas Fuentes, prompting the Republican National Committee to pass a resolution soon after condemning antisemitism. Trump has also faced heavy criticism for previous dehumanizing comments echoing Hitler’s rhetoric, including referring to political enemies as “vermin” and asserting that immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country.”

Singer, who warned Americans to “stop scrolling and pay attention,” went on to blast Trump’s “extreme vision of chaos, division and violence.”

Trump isn’t the first Republican presidential candidate this election cycle to face criticism related to a video featuring Nazi-related details. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis fired a staffer on his presidential campaign last year who created and publicly shared a pro-DeSantis video that included a sonnenrad symbol also used by Nazis.

Whether the reference is to the German reich that lead to WWI or Hitler's Third Reich, the language should make moral, thinking Americans open their eyes.  For MAGA cultist, seemingly nothing can erode their loyal to Der Trumpenfuhrer.

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FBI, Homeland Security and State Department Issues Alert for LGBTQ People

Two different NBC News stories look at alerts issued by the State Department for overseas and the FBI and Homeland Security domestically warning LGBT individuals of threats against them and LGBT events posed by foreign and domestic terrorists. Behind these threats are both the political motivations fanning anti-LGBT hatred such as those employed by Vladimir Putin and Republicans courting American Christofascist, and, of course, there is the centuries old religious motivation to attack and destroy those who by their very existence or who refusal to embrace ignorance embracing Bronze Age religious dogma are demonized and labeled as threats to "traditional values. The first piece looks at the domestic threat LGBT individuals face: 

Foreign terrorist organizations or their supporters might target LGBTQ-related events and venues as part of June's Pride Month, federal agencies warned in a recent public announcement.

The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security issued the announcement May 10 to raise awareness of “foreign terrorist organizations (FTOS) or their supporters potential targeting of LGBTQIA+-related events and venues."

“Foreign terrorist organizations or supporters may seek to exploit increased gatherings associated with the upcoming June 2024 Pride Month,” the agencies wrote.

The announcement did not specify any locations or indicate the agencies were tracking any specific threats. According to the release, foreign terrorist groups and supporters have in the past promoted anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and targeted related events.

The release noted that June 12 marks the eighth anniversary of the attack on the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida. That was the deadliest attack on the LGBTQ community in U.S. history, leaving 49 people dead and 53 people wounded as “Latin Night” was being celebrated at the club.

The release also noted possible signs to watch out for that might indicate a potential problem, such as violent threats made online or in the mail. Potential attackers might also try to take photos of security-related equipment or access points at events; attempt to get into restricted areas or impersonate law enforcement personnel; or chat up staff at various venues to get information like what types of events they have upcoming and what the crowd sizes might be.

Pride Month, held in June, is a particularly important time in the LGBTQ+ rights movement. After starting June 28, 1970, as New York City's first Pride march, it has evolved into a nationwide event in which cities and towns across America hold marches both to call attention to specific issues such as same-sex marriage and to celebrate.

While the piece does not directly mention domestic Christofascist and white supremacy groups, many of such groups support both Russia's and Hungary's attacks on LGBT rights and individuals.  Indeed, far right "Christian" groups over the last decades have worked to export anti-LGBT hatred to Russia and other countries, including in may parts of Africa.

The second piece covers some of the same ground, but also looks at the possible threats to LGBT Americans while traveling overseas.  Sadly, Republican politicians pushing anti-gay legislation for perceived political advantage care nothing about the lives they put at risk and how such laws play into the hands of foreign terrorists. Here are article excerpts: 

The U.S. State Department issued a "Worldwide Caution" alert on Friday, warning U.S. citizens overseas to exercise increased caution due to "the increased potential for foreign terrorist organization-inspired violence against LGBTQI+ persons and events."

According to an administration official familiar with the matter, the alert is connected to the recent announcement from the FBI and Department of Homeland Security that foreign terrorist organizations might seek to exploit "LGBTQIA+-related events and venues," including events during 2024 Pride month, which begins in June.

Last year's Pride month was also marked by safety concerns after the Department of Homeland Security issued a report warning that domestic violence extremists and people who commit hate crimes have increased threats of violence against the LGBTQIA+ community in recent years.

LGBTQ advocacy groups have issued a "state of emergency" in the U.S. following record-breaking waves of anti-LGBTQ legislation as well as a spike in reports of hate incidents.

The State Department alert also advises traveling Americans to exercise increased caution because of the potential for more generalized terrorist attacks, demonstrations, or violent actions "against U.S. citizens and interests."

 Religion, in my view, remains one of the most toxic forces in the world.

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