Samuel Alito Didn’t Give a F–k Then and He Doesn’t Give a F–k Now: He can’t even be bothered to disavow the meaning behind the upside-down flag that was flown on his lawn in support of Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 election.

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/story/samuel-alito-didnt-give-a-f-k-then-and-he-doesnt-give-a-f-k-now

38 comments

  1. I don’t see the soft paywall, but in case anyone encounters one, here’s the whole thing:

    > As you’ve probably heard by now, for several days before Joe Biden was inaugurated in 2021, an upside-down flag—which had become synonymous with election denialism and the “Stop the Steal” movement, and had been brandished by some of the people responsible for the Capitol attack earlier that month—flew outside the home of Supreme Court justice Samuel Alito. Given the meaning behind the upside-down flag, this would have been a bold political statement for anyone to make. But Alito is not just anyone—he’s a member of the highest court in the country, where justices are supposed to do everything they can not to appear biased. And at the time the flag was flying, the Court was deciding if it should hear Donald Trump’s case trying to overturn the election (it didn’t, but not for Alito’s lack of trying.)

    > Obviously, this was an outrageous thing for the conservative justice to do, as well as a flagrant violation of ethics rules set by SCOTUS, according to court experts. The flag display, University of Virginia law professor Amanda Frost told The New York Times, was “the equivalent of putting a ‘Stop the Steal’ sign in your yard, which is a problem if you’re deciding election-related cases.”

    > And as Alito has made clear, he doesn’t give a f–k.

    > “I had no involvement whatsoever in the flying of the flag,” Alito said in a statement to the Times. “It was briefly placed by Mrs. Alito in response to a neighbor’s use of objectionable and personally insulting language on yard signs.”

    > There are many issues with Alito’s response, including but not limited to the fact that:

    > – While he might not have flown the flag himself, he had no problem living inside a house that had it displayed outside
    > – “Briefly” would suggest, say, hours, yet the flag was reportedly up for days
    > – His neighbor is not married to a Supreme Court justice, and Alito’s wife is
    > – Putting up a yard sign projecting a distaste for Trump, as the neighbor reportedly did, is not equivalent to displaying a symbol embraced by a movement trying to overturn the results of a free and fair election
    > – As the Times’ Michael Barbaro writes, “Alito doesn’t deny the flag was flying upside down, doesn’t deny its meaning, doesn’t express any disapproval for it and doesn’t disavow it.”

    > That Alito doesn’t disavow the flag even now is hugely disturbing, and even more so because the Court is set to rule on a pair of cases involving January 6 and whether Trump can be held accountable. While there have already been calls for the justice to recuse himself, that is quite obviously not going to happen. And despite the clear violation of the Court’s ethics rules, no one is going to make Alito recuse himself. If Alito were on a lower court, former federal judge Jeremy Fogel told the Times, the flag display could lead to a review to determine any misconduct. But because the Supreme Court “serves as the arbiter of its own behavior, ‘you don’t really have anywhere to take it.’”

    > Incidentally, Alito is not the first justice whose spouse’s actions have led to calls for recusal (or even impeachment); the longest-serving current justice, Clarence Thomas, happens to be married to someone who thought nothing of going to extreme lengths to overturn the election.

    > Of course, Alito’s biases were obvious well before the flag incident came to light.

    > Last month, during oral arguments for and against Trump’s claims of absolute presidential immunity, the conservative justice suggested that in order to protect democracy, presidents must be allowed to commit crimes without fear of consequences. If and when he rules favorably for the ex-president, no one will be surprised. But it would be nice if he would just come out and admit what everyone knows: that he’s in the can for Trump.

  2. He got caught and so he just blamed it on his wife. I really believe he leaked the Roe overturn decision and then blamed it on the SCOTUS interns.

    He is a POS.

  3. The guy is a Christo-fascist, woman-hating homophobe to the core. He has no business even being a street sweeper in a democratic country – let alone a justice is one.

  4. The right is feeling itself being backed into a corner and is lashing out atm. Look all around.

  5. Funny Obama wanted to put middle of the road white bread Garland on the court. The right keeps putting extremists on the court.

    Remember when W tried to put his buddy Harriet Miers on the court and even the Republicans laughed him off on that.

    That is how we got this Catholic fascist. Remember the Church colluded with the Nazis and helped them escape.

  6. There is no reason for him to give a fuck, just like Clarence Thomas. They know that Chief Justice John Roberts will do nothing and their “code of conduct rules” are ignored.

  7. >“I know this is a controversial view, but I’m willing to say it,” Alito told the Journal. “No provision in the Constitution gives them [Congress] the authority to regulate the Supreme Court — period.” [cite](https://www.politico.com/news/2023/07/30/chris-murphy-alito-congress-ethics-supreme-court-00108898)

    He thinks he’s untouchable.

    Geez, RICO the entire GOP/RNC and Federalist Society and every other person conducting an enterprise for the purpose of racketeering, e.g., on behalf of zillionaires and authoritarians who want frictionless unlimited money. And womb slaves.

  8. Blamed his wife just like Sen Menendez. I got married last fall. Did I just acquire a scapegoat??

  9. Well… pretty sure we can predict some upcoming decisions. That’s fucking great. Even in the most unlikely scenario (as this one is) who gives a shit what signs your neighbor has? One of my neighbors (at the school bus stop btw) has an 8’ F Joe Biden flag. Is it silly? Sure. Do I respond? No.

  10. Robert’s needs to reign in his clown show before he loses the final shred of dignity and respect his court has.

  11. Where’s the incentive for ethics or morals when you have a job you can NEVER be fired from? And then thumb your nose at all those who pay you. 🤔

  14. As a bwave, bwave conservative, he ~~took full responsibility~~ blamed his wife.

  15. Would it be better if he made up some half asssed excuse?

  16. He’s openly corrupt and doesn’t care what the people think.
    He know you wont doing anything about it.
    2 weeks everyone will forget about it. Just like everyone did in 2020.

  17. I sure hope Biden gets absolute immunity to deal with corrupt judges.

  18. “It’s not me who is the disgusting, traitorous pile of shit… it was my wife!” – a lying sack of garbage who shouldn’t have power over the local Dennys let alone the Supreme Court

  21. Okay, I knew of Justice Thomas’ long and distinguished tenure- now we have a like minded colleague Alito? How long has he been a POS?

  23. Blames his wife. Typical cosplay “macho” fruit. He ain’t sh*t. He should also be impeached.

  24. Our legal system is dying, one fascist judge at the time

  25. At some point, Roberts, Kavanaugh, Gorsuch, and ACB are going to have to decide where they stand on democracy. Alito and Thomas have made their positions clear. They are not even going to pretend to care about the Court’s legitimacy and the corroding effects their actions are having on the institution and the country as a whole. They are basically sitting a high, thumbing their nose at the country by shamelessly flaunting their blatant corruption.

    So the other 4 conservatives are going to have to decide how much they are willing to indulge. Gorsuch has signaled that he is okay being part of Thomas and Alito’s little clique. So it would seem the future of our democracy depends on John Roberts, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett.

    God help us.

  26. Hey listen who doesn’t have to rein in the Mrs. Am I right? She was so mad at the neighbors! I was simply trying to work at my job in the Supreme Court of the United States and stay out of the way amiright fellas

  28. Big words for someone that’s gotten a free ride thanks to American tax payers

  30. Supreme Court Traitor ! So fucking sad we got several on the Supreme Court . Pathetic traitors .

  32. Thomas already showed him.

    No matter what I do, I can’t be held accountable for it and lose even a moment of power over a case before the court.

  33. Well, if he doesn’t care. Then there’s the door he can use it when his wife divorces him.

  36. Biden has been rocking the power moves, and should totally nominate two justices, saying that he does not and will no longer recognize the two plainly corrupt justices, and decisions will be recognized as if their seats were empty.

    Yeah, precedent and all that, but if some random redditor can write it down some GOP lawyer has a step by step plan with vetted names on actually pulling this off. The GOP rule of ratfuckery- if you can conceive it, the GOP already has a drawn up plan to execute it.

  37. No they are using the same arguments now. It was my wife..

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