Alito delete-o

Here's what caught my attention more than anything else after learning ultra-conservative Supreme Court Associate Justice Samuel Alito was flying an upside-down American flag outside his house shortly after the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol in 2021:

 

At the Alito home...

He blamed the whole episode on his wife, Martha-Ann, denying (it seems that denial is what Republicans seem to do best these days) that he had any knowledge of the "Stop the Steal" symbolism at his home and what the inverted flag meant to Trump supporters (who were in denial of Joe Biden's election victory).

I mean, yeah, Alito has First Amendment rights along with the rest of us, but as a Supreme Court justice, he also has a code of ethics to follow (not to mention a U.S. code on the proper way to fly the American flag), which I think supercedes any freedom of speech issues. Freedom of speech, we know, is not absolute.

But apparently, throwing your wife under the Trump bus is an absolute. What a manly response by this coward.

Alito tried to deflect the issue, saying that his wife flew the upside-down flag in a dispute with a pro-Biden neighbor. So much for thick skin. If you're a Supreme Court justice, or the spouse of one, why respond in any way at all? You've become a hack and no longer a justice.

There is no justice here.

By making a political statement such as flying a "Stop the Steal" inverted flag, the Supreme Court suffers a blow to what is supposed to be its institutional reputation for staying above the political fray.

Not any longer. There is now a sense that justice is no longer blind and that it is driven by a (conservative) agenda. This is important, what with two Jan. 6 related cases coming before the Court before long, including a decision on presidential immunity.

This current Alito affair, coupled with Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas' wife, Ginnie, actually appearing at Trump's Jan. 6 speech on the Ellipse and then contacting Chief of Staff Mark Meadows via email about saving the country from Democrats is astounding.

And then to have the gall to celebrate vacations in their new RV purchased from wealthy conservative donors and who had cases appear before SCOTUS.

Clearly, both Thomas and Alito need to recuse themselves from anything dealing with Trump because of the obvious conflict of interests, not to mention the political overtones. There is no enforceable code of ethics for the Supreme Court. There is no accountability in the Supreme Court. This is a flaw in the design of our constitutional government that must be addressed immediately.

But, in an election year, don't hold your breath. For those of us appalled by this behavior, we are confronting insanity