Samuel Alito's snide denial of his Jan. 6 flag is just as ugly as flying it in the first place [View all]
Samuel Alito's snide denial of his Jan. 6 flag is just as ugly as flying it in the first place
The Supreme Court justice views his fellow Americans with contempt, and not as citizens he's serving
By AMANDA MARCOTTE
Senior Writer
PUBLISHED MAY 18, 2024 6:00AM (EDT)
(
Salon) Add one more incident to the "shocking but not surprising" pile that grows mountainously high in an era of rising fascism: Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito flew a flag at his house signaling support for the Capitol insurrection in the days after January 6, 2021.
The inverted American flag was a popular signal of support for Trump's lies about the 2020 election and the MAGA riot on the Capitol. As reported Thursday by Jodi Kantor of the New York Times, photographs and testimony from Alito's northern Virginia neighbors show an "upside-down flag was aloft on Jan. 17, 2021" at his home. At the same time, the Times notes, Alito unsuccessfully attempted to get the court to take a case undermining the 2020 election.
Gross and undeniable in its meaning, of course. But Alito, who has never been interested in honesty with the public, offered a glib rebuttal, telling the New York Times, "I had no involvement whatsoever in the flying of the flag." Instead, he blamed his wife, saying she flew the inverted flag as a "response to a neighbors use of objectionable and personally insulting language on yard signs."
....(snip)....
A more honest description of the conflict would be that the Alitos rejected their neighbor's right to express their political opinions freely. In order to convey their disapproval of this use of First Amendment rights, the Alito household sent a message of support to people who used violence in an attempt to destroy American democracy. As more than one commentator pointed out, Alito continues to run around pretending he's a champion of "free speech," but when his neighbors expressed an opinion held by most Americans, he (or his wife, if you believe him) responded with an endorsement of violence to end constitutional democracy as we know it. ...................(more)
https://www.salon.com/2024/05/18/samuel-alitos-snide-denial-of-his-jan-6-flag-is-just-as-ugly-as-flying-it-in-the-first-place/