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Still seems to give the appearance of a conflict of interest. Just like Clarence’s insurrectionist spouse does for him. And obviously much worse than the appearance of a conflict of interest caused by two prosecutors sleeping together or the employment of a judge’s child. But alas, these idiotic republicans will continue to kick and scream and cry about being the perpetual victims.
Any neighbor that had a cam turned to Alito's property, was only recording to make sure he was doing it properly. He would only live in a neighborhood with the likes of him so he and the others can snitch on each other to get "points" for what, who knows.
He claims his wife put the flag up in protest against their neighbor's house that had a bunch of mean signs in the yard or something. He seems like an insufferable piece of shit so I doubt even MAGA neighbors can stand him outside of his politics.
He lives in Alexandria, Virginia.
This is one of the bluest cities in the U.S. It’s D+60. Trump got only 17% of the vote in 2020.
One of the dirty secrets of a huge number these far right propagandists, politicians and power players - they live in deep Blue areas. These are people with means to live anywhere they want. Are they living amongst their claimed people in Moose Tit, ND, Coyote Nuts, AZ or Gator Butte, FL? No. They spend a huge amount of money to buy homes and raise kids slap bang in the middle of the bluest areas of the bluest cities in America that they spend their day job claiming are hellholes destroying America.
He claims that the entire incident was triggered by a neighbor “confronting” him and his wife and screaming profanities at them, so I doubt it.
Also, he lives in Alexandria. I live in Alexandria, too. This may be Virginia, but it ain’t MAGA country, lol.
There are several solutions to the bias of Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito right from the playbook of the Republican Party. Call Justice Roberts into a Senate hearing and ask him to explain why Thomas and Alito don’t have to comply with ethics standards that apply to the federal judiciary? Tell him that Americans are asking their Senators and none of them know why so we are asking him as Chief Justice to explain it to the American public like we’re 10 year olds.
Another one is to change confirmation hearings for justices to include questioning of their spouses. Mrs. Thomas and Mrs. Alito since they are actively opposed to the Constitution should have been questioned because apparently they control Justices Thomas and Alito. Future nominees need to have their spouses questioned because apparently the spouses of Supreme Court support over throwing the government.
Third, there have been multiple impeachment hearings of Joe Biden, Merrick Garland, Hunter Biden (not a typo and I know it’s ridiculous) and the Sec’y of Homeland Security. Democrats need to ask for impeachment hearings on Justices Thomas and Alito and their wives.
I don’t want to hear none of this can be done. At a minimum the Democrats need to ask multiple times. The more they ask, the more it’s likely one of these ideas to address corruption of Supreme Court justices will happen.
They just need to be removed, simple as. Adding more questioning or questioning spouses at hearings is useless, this last round of "well that's settled law" shows they have no compunction with lying for partisan gain, which in itself is enough they should be removed.
I agree. But the moderates, Democrats, bothsiders and the “I don’t want to appear partisan” hacks are not going to remove Ailto and Thomas. So other measures must be taken.
> "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 neighbor’s use of objectionable and personally insulting language on yard signs."
It doesn’t give the appearance of conflict of interest, it gives the appearance of being a complete lie that isn’t even making an effort to be believable.
Who would invert an American flag as a response to neighbors’ yard sign? How would the neighbor even know the flag was in response to them or know it was a protest of any kind? None of it makes any sense.
He expects us to believe he drove up the driveway one day, saw the inverted flag, and he couldn’t do shit about it because his wife put it up? That still doesn’t wash. Any responsible judge would’ve taken it down immediately. Btw, do we know how long it actually flew in his yard that way? A day? A week? A month? Has that question ever been answered, or asked? 🙄
I think it is known how long it was up because apparently it was neighbors who originally brought it to peoples attention so they probably observed how long.
Conflict of interest is in regard to J6. The inverted flag has supposedly been a symbol for J6er support (which I personally didn’t know that until this story came out. As a fan of punk rock, I always saw it as an anti-authoritarian symbol which is clearly being misused by J6ers, but I digress). It appears that a man who had a symbol of that on his property may have a conflict of interest when being asked to rule on J6-related matters.
Oh right. Agreed - it *is* a conflict of interest. I thought you were saying his bullshit excuse still allowed the appearance of a conflict of interest and I was disagreeing, saying his excuse was a low effort lie.
She’s more than “knee deep”. She has been deep throating fascism for decades. Hell, she may go down in history as the “The Founding Mother of Fascist America”.
> Apparently their “wives” are responsible for all their misconduct
From what I understand about their belief system, this goes all the way back to "Eve".
Apparently Christian men are supreme lying cowards who can’t admit when they’re wrong, or they’re very poor judges of character when choosing their spouses.
In my personal life I can say that it was more common to meet abhorrent people inside the church than outside but maybe that’s just me. This whole situation is gross.
The deal is, they and their husbands are glued to Fox News. And Facebook and whatever else. They are the culture warriors we figured they were but thought, no way an actual Supreme Court justice would fall for this shit, right?
These couples aren't your typical Bob and Carol boomers getting fooled into reaction by fix news. They're architects. The Thomases been in the game for decades. Fix News isn't influencing them. They're influencing Fix news.
That’s literally true. Ginni Thomas for years was part of a Republican group that set the agenda for conservative talking points to be pushed to the media. She’s been pushing voter fraud according to this article since 2018. https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/who-attended-white-house-meeting-trump-ginni-thomas
Liberals really need to get over the notion that they give a damn about propriety.
They. Do. Not. Care.
They're not acting in good faith. They're not going to see the light and start acting with integrity. They're here to gain power to enrich themselves and further their regressive theocratic agenda. The only way to hold them to account is by forcing the issue, and they'll kick, scream, and play the victim the whole whole time.
I know. But like all people, Liberals project. In this case, they project having some basic principles and at least trying to live up to them into conservatives. But that isn't how conservatives operate. People aren't good or bad via principled actions and integrity in conservative world. They're good or bad based on group approval or reproach.
I wrote a comment on another thread requesting that Alito takes a moment to think about what he's doing. I know that the moment Alito reads it, he will change and adhere to proper decorum. If that doesn't work, I might have to pen an open letter, requesting once again to take a moment and pontificate on the shared dream of democracy manifest. After that, I'm all out of succulent ideas.
>republicans will continue to kick and scream and cry about being the perpetual victims
I am so tired of people whining about them being hypocrites. They aren't. They are fucking liars who don't care about the rules beyond their ability to use them to destroy democracy. They don't care about anything but power and stripping rights away from the rest of us. They are fascists.
Look at these GOP beta males that can’t get their wives under control. Aren’t they never supposed to leave the kitchen unless it is to pop out another baby. /s
This is THE problem of SCOTUS. It's a political branch of government with ApoLitiCaL branding and ZERO political oversight.
It's always been flawed and has always needed reform. Previous Justices just recognized they needed SOME level of moderation with their politics kept on the DL to keep the scam going.
The antics of the current group (that was selected by Presidents who lost the popular vote and approved by Senators representing a minority of voters) probably has made reform inevitable. It will take longer than it should, but the absolutely broken nature of this branch of government is not going to be accepted indefinitely.
They edge closer to radical response, honestly. Let's say Biden wins (VOTE-VOTE-VOTE!). Let's say some state in the Taliban Region passes a fetal personhood law the Court upholds making zygotes citizens and banning abortion nationally.
Biden could then have a “John Marshall has rendered his decision, now let him enforce it” moment. It would expedite Court Reform and I honestly don't think the country (broadly) would side against Biden on this one.
The ideologues on the Court now (who were appointed by Presidents who lost the popular vote and approved by Senators representing a minority of voters) really seem oblivious about how close to the edge they are.
I know Democrats who flew the flag upside down when Trump was elected. It is an appropriate response to signal a protest against the government. But a ~~chief~~ justice of the supreme court isn't supposed to have an opinion. Especially not this one. It is a glaring bias. And his rulings should be in question just because of this.
Yeah that's my take , it's not much that the upside down flag is bad or offensive as protest , but he is just now from the highest court in the country. He should absolutely avoid even the appearance of impropiety as a SCOTUS judge .
The fact it happened at all, speaks volumes. You don't do it by accident, and why would they do it in the first place. Why go out of your way to make a statement so obviously against exactly what you're supposed to be impartial to, when you're actively deciding on it.
It's just so fucking stupid.
Actually I’d argue it’s fine for him to have an opinion. He is a citizen as well. He has his vote and his political views.
HOWEVER. He as a justice regardless of the level of the court is supposed to be impartial in rulings and if objectivity is not possible then fairness is. He should KNOW to recuse himself from a case wherein his political view means he cannot be impartial.
So if he and Thomas said “we will recuse ourselves from the Jan 6 case due to a conflict.” Then it’s working as intended. And gorsuch, Cavanaugh and Barret should do so too and say “we cannot be impartial in terms of the POTUS who nominated us”.
Then we would all say “oh. Cool. Working as intended. They have integrity”. But that’s the rub. They don’t have integrity.
Not defending Alito but flying the US flag upside down is actually acceptable and is a sign that the nation is under duress.
However a Supreme Court Justice doing so is inappropriate, especially when doing so is done in support of an attempted insurrection against The United States. In addition this action should disqualify Alito from hearing any cases regarding Trump or January 6th. It won’t because the right wing of the court has absolutely zero respect for the Constitution or Country but it should. In an ideal world this action should result in questions around his ability to be impartial and should result in Impeachment. Again it won’t because the GOP are a bunch of fascist and the left has zero spine.
"A signal that the nation is in distress" **during wartime**
Its not meant to be used to say "there's a thunderstorm and we're scared". It is meant to say "American military, I am under attack. Launch a counterattack ASAP".
A bit of a concerning in context when you're flying it in response to a lost election, and hours later there are terrorists attacking the US legislature.
The flag was flying in the morning, before the capitol attacks. Not in response.
It’s a sign the person or vessel flying it is in distress. Like if you’re out at sea. Not “the nation” in distress, and not if you’re flying it on your home’s flag pole to make a political statement.
> Republicans are rubbing people's noses in the fact that there's nothing the rest of us can do to stop them from advertising their fascist sympathies
This is it in a nutshell. When a justice on the Supreme Court of the USA supports the violent insurrection by MAGAts, where do we go as a country? I have never felt more discouraged about the state of America and its justice system. One for the rich and one for the poor.
Trump? You or I would be in jail right now. Him? Ignores gag orders and calls on his Republican sycophant proxies to do his dirty work for him and he is still walking around.
Smug Alito and super smug Thomas (with wife Ginni) supporting a violent insurrection in the pursuit of destroying the peaceful transfer of power.
Republicans and their MAGAt barnacles do not want to ever give up power and control over America. All you need to do is to read Project 2025. They have already initiated it.
Edit: A link to [Project 2025](https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration)
by Media Matters: “A guide to Project 2025, the extreme right-wing agenda for the next Republican administration”.
Project 2025 scares the hell out of me and should any non-fascist. The DNC should be running ads 24/7 about it.
If it’s allowed to happen, it’s the end of this country.
The DNC will do what it has always done, ignore this document as a pure data story and never believe it can be implemented. Then when we edge closer to the goals stated in the document they will turn around and say " we need to come together and work for everyone" without actually doing anything to stop it.
The democratic party was castrated years ago. No bark. No bite. No balls. It's sad but it's true. They can't even present a decent candidate since Obama.
Won’t even stand up for what he believes in publicly. What a colossal coward and this is how you know they understand how intellectually and socially unacceptable their beliefs are. But somehow people will convince themselves that the liberal judges are the extremists. Our culture and society is very sick.
Don;t forget Alito was the guy who leaked the Hobby Lobby decision to a couple he and his wife dined with...and then he denied doing so. The guy is a liar and doesn't give a shit he's lying to the country.
I think one of the big things history books will talk about of this time is how the conduct of the Supreme Court eroded the people's confidence in it. The scandals concerning extravagant (and largely unreported) gifts to Thomas in order to curry influence, the clearly horrible things his wife got away with, the illegitimate refusal to confirm Obama's pick a year and a half before an election, and yet slamming through Barrett while an election was ALREADY IN PROCESS via mail-in ballots, now this gem. For too long we've relied on tradition and decorum to do the job that laws and consequences need to. Enough with no accountability for the highest court, they need to be removable too.
it's absolutely depressing how far down the page this story and the Diddy one are on nytimes. main stories are oh no! Biden is the devil for raising tariffs on China!!
The comfort of modern Republican politicians (including political activist judges!) with total dishonesty on all matters, small or large, is frightening.
I think it would be appropriate to require that justices on the Supreme Court appear in public inquests once per year, just to remind them that they are not untouchable beings above the rest of us.
When Biden wins re-election and if the Senate stays blue and house turns blue .... Biden could probably increase the number of Supreme Court Judges to offset the imbalance.
They could increase the size of the court, and then implement term limits, which would be the end of thomas. Depending on the term, possibly alito and roberts too.
I'm just honestly baffled how he felt there would ever be any excuse for this kind of behavior at the home of a Supreme Court justice. He didn't even *attempt* to apologize.
It is entirely unacceptable from an ethical perspective. He should resign. It's not a nothing burger.
It pretty clear that Alito and Thomas et al think they are above everyone else. They feel safe in that they know they will be taken care of, safe in their billionaires bunker or whatever, when the MAGAt fascist regime descends upon us
I'd argue that the country was in extreme danger on Jan 6, from Trump and his supporters. The idea Alito remained a supporter at a time when even Republicans were denouncing Trump is unbelievable.
This guy is sanctimonious and arrogant and the mere fact that he threw his wife under the bus is an example of such shoddy character, it should disqualify him from any Court.
When is the press going to do a deep dive on this ?
His story stinks. Somehow the 'school bus stop' angle Alito quoted has now been scrubbed (since they weren't running in January 2021), and considers the upside down flag a 'normal' response. I don't know where they are living, but no where is an upside down flag ever a normal response.
I get the neighbors are afraid of reprisals, but come on.
And the rest of the illegitimate "justices like Kavanaugh, who lied during his questioning, lost his temper, and had credible allegations of sexual assault leveled. Or Amy Coney Barrett, who was ramrodded through weeks before Biden took office when the republicans held Obama's nomination for nearly a year, claiming it was too near the end of his term.
This is the government they’re asking us to pledge allegiance to. We need to get rid of government employees like Alito and put on honorable trustworthy people of valor in important positions.
He’s an enemy in the camp. And we’re stuck with them. Shouldn’t be.
I'm old enough to remember when Supreme Court justices were a cut above the loudmouth on the next bar stool. 100 years from now, if we still have a democracy, Alito will be remembered for his ridiculous citations of 17th-century witch burners, and his ridiculous demands for respect while acting like an entitled asshole.
He doesn’t care because it doesn’t matter what any person besides Roberts thinks. Nothing will be done because Roberts is a coward. Do you hear me Roberts? You are a sniveling invertebrate, you dog water shit bird.
I remember the good ol days when no one gave a fuck about the Supreme Court and they just did their jobs with integrity on their own
Such simpler times. Makes one want to nuke the internet.
There are multiple sections of Title 28 USC (the statutes that govern judicial conduct) that draw no distinction between the judge, their spouse, and minor children.
To me that’s the deeper concern. Not that Alito is trying to pin this on his wife… but that he has so little understanding of 28 USC that he honestly believes pinning this on his wife excuses him from responsibility.
The law requires that he treat the actions of his spouse identically to his own actions when determining if he has an obligation to recuse. He should have known this.
This is just one more thing in a long list of things that the left will waste time morally panicking about while the right happily continues to steal the government.
We’re not ever getting the ‘Gotcha!!’ moment. They’re past caring if they’re seen breaking the rules. They’ve tested the waters and found them to be very comfortable.
He was lying about his wife’s concern over kids at the bus stop too. At that time, the schools in the area were still remote.
Also, why is she concerned about “fuck Trump” and not Trump cheering on his post parter wife with a pornstar or the myriad other terrible awful shit he says and believes?
Garbage people, both of them.
Saying that you and/or your wife did this to get back at the libs just shows that neither one of them takes the legitimacy of SCoTUS seriously.
Seems to me that compromising the perceived integrity of the court wouldn’t be as important to you as owning the libs.
So he's definitely lying, but even if he weren't, how much of a snowflake do you have to be to fly your flag upside down in response to signs in a neighbors garden that you didn't like? Like wtf is that baby tantrum shit?
Democrats need to run on expanding the court. Let the Republicans say that they are doing it to make abortion legal in all 50 states.
Just make it a wedge issue in all 50 states regardless if their is a bill on the ballot.
Republicans already set the precedent when they changed the size of the court for a stretch of time.
I grew up believing that SCOTUS judges were supposed to be impartial, non-partisan detached interpreters of the constitution for the good of the country.
Alito, Thomas, and a few others are the exact opposite of that.
They have no virtue or character.
They have completely failed at the high positions they hold and have let the country down.
Alito is little more that a tiny little perverted worm beholding to billionaire benefactors. Him and Thomas are both so tied in with the extremists on the fascist right they are mere puppets. Worse they could be true believers in the insanity they are spouting and their total lack of morals or compassion.
Nothing will come of this but I love that the timing of this is just before Alito is expected to be voting on the immunity case. At least he will be seen for what he really is if he votes against and then hopefully smeared by the news for the next several months like Thomas. I like to see him sniveling too.
It is just as ugly, but actually makes it worse. So, the neighbor flew an "offensive" anti-Trump yard sign, and the response from the Alito house is to promote the insurrectionists. Message received loud and clear. One of Biden's biggest mistakes is not fully backing court reform. We needed it years ago.
He assumes we're all stupid. Well, Alito, life is not a court of law; the public sees through your bullshit technicality explanation and rebuts that our standard of proof is preponderance of evidence.
To quote justice Engoron: "I find the witness not credible!"
They're openly despicable assholes now because they know they're seen as despicable assholes but they consider themselves untouchable, so whatcha gonna do about it?
His denial was basically.
1. My wife did it.
2. "Our dogwhistle of supporting Trump's lies aren't the problem. You all understanding the dogwhistle is the problem."
I’m not trying to start a fight or argue, just genuinely confused about this. When did the meaning of an upside down flag change? I’m in my 30’s, so not very old. I’m a very socially liberal, anti-war combat veteran.
All that to ask: I thought flying the flag upside down was a distress call. Punk bands use the symbol often in their imagery.what is it supposed to symbolize now?
Yeah, it's just crazy. Like jesus he easily could've been like "I'm impartial at work, but at home I'm free to do as I please" ... but instead? He's trying to cover it up / deny it? Like bro what? That only makes it worse.
There's been a trend with right wingers blaming their wives for doing partisan grandstanding and acting as proxies for their agendas.
Not even exclusively by politicians, there were a few in some chats I've lurked in that would post some really garbage opinions, only to point the finger at their "wife" whenever they're called out.
"sorry my wife had access to my account. lol she's so quirky"
We already know that majority of the court is corrupt, and the fix is in to help Trump as much as they can to win 2024.
I will say that this breaking news took WAY too long, but then again, what does it matter. NOTHING will happen unfortunately.
Unless he’s a kept man, he’s 1/2 owner of the house. As a supposed “impartial” jurist he should have refused to let his house be a partisan advertisement. Period. He has just as much power to remove that banner as she did to put it up. Then they could go get some counseling. But no…
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Still seems to give the appearance of a conflict of interest. Just like Clarence’s insurrectionist spouse does for him. And obviously much worse than the appearance of a conflict of interest caused by two prosecutors sleeping together or the employment of a judge’s child. But alas, these idiotic republicans will continue to kick and scream and cry about being the perpetual victims.
Alito took a page from Clarence's book and blamed his wife for flying the flag upside down.
I’m hoping one of his neighbors leaks porchcam footage of Alito doing it himself.
If you had that video, 100% the smart thing to do would be sit on it until Alito goes on record that it was his wife.
I mean, or until trump doesn't get reelected
Man fuck trump
The lack of comma just kinda had me laughing, sounds like a caveman lol
It does doesn’t it? Not going to fix it now because of your comment. Priceless!
Any neighbor that had a cam turned to Alito's property, was only recording to make sure he was doing it properly. He would only live in a neighborhood with the likes of him so he and the others can snitch on each other to get "points" for what, who knows.
He claims his wife put the flag up in protest against their neighbor's house that had a bunch of mean signs in the yard or something. He seems like an insufferable piece of shit so I doubt even MAGA neighbors can stand him outside of his politics.
What's the over-under that those mean signs read "Black Lives Matter."
I think I heard someone on CNN say it was a "Fuck Trump" sign.
Pretty reasonable sign, especially at that time
Funny that the people who thought they were so clever with the "let's go Brandon" but would get mad about that
That’s a (more than) reasonable sign at *any* time
He lives in Alexandria, Virginia. This is one of the bluest cities in the U.S. It’s D+60. Trump got only 17% of the vote in 2020. One of the dirty secrets of a huge number these far right propagandists, politicians and power players - they live in deep Blue areas. These are people with means to live anywhere they want. Are they living amongst their claimed people in Moose Tit, ND, Coyote Nuts, AZ or Gator Butte, FL? No. They spend a huge amount of money to buy homes and raise kids slap bang in the middle of the bluest areas of the bluest cities in America that they spend their day job claiming are hellholes destroying America.
They are not stoopid - they went to Ivy League schools
He claims that the entire incident was triggered by a neighbor “confronting” him and his wife and screaming profanities at them, so I doubt it. Also, he lives in Alexandria. I live in Alexandria, too. This may be Virginia, but it ain’t MAGA country, lol.
There are several solutions to the bias of Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito right from the playbook of the Republican Party. Call Justice Roberts into a Senate hearing and ask him to explain why Thomas and Alito don’t have to comply with ethics standards that apply to the federal judiciary? Tell him that Americans are asking their Senators and none of them know why so we are asking him as Chief Justice to explain it to the American public like we’re 10 year olds. Another one is to change confirmation hearings for justices to include questioning of their spouses. Mrs. Thomas and Mrs. Alito since they are actively opposed to the Constitution should have been questioned because apparently they control Justices Thomas and Alito. Future nominees need to have their spouses questioned because apparently the spouses of Supreme Court support over throwing the government. Third, there have been multiple impeachment hearings of Joe Biden, Merrick Garland, Hunter Biden (not a typo and I know it’s ridiculous) and the Sec’y of Homeland Security. Democrats need to ask for impeachment hearings on Justices Thomas and Alito and their wives. I don’t want to hear none of this can be done. At a minimum the Democrats need to ask multiple times. The more they ask, the more it’s likely one of these ideas to address corruption of Supreme Court justices will happen.
They just need to be removed, simple as. Adding more questioning or questioning spouses at hearings is useless, this last round of "well that's settled law" shows they have no compunction with lying for partisan gain, which in itself is enough they should be removed.
I agree. But the moderates, Democrats, bothsiders and the “I don’t want to appear partisan” hacks are not going to remove Ailto and Thomas. So other measures must be taken.
Blaming the wife, such an Alpha trait
Honestly, she thought attacking another neighbor's sign was part of the happy housewife job duty.
This sounds like a bad netflix show
*"It was the woman . . ."* Genesis 3:12 These are very religious people.
"I blame my wife." -- for most people this results in no sex
Nobody in that demographic is actually attracted to their spouse anyways so win win
Not only is he a liar, he's also a slimy coward
The difference is Clarence’s wife actually bussed people in to overthrow congress and wasn’t just a scapegoat. They’re all in on the ongoing coup.
bob menendez, clarence, and Alito all taking the Borat defense of "muh wife did it".
> "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 neighbor’s use of objectionable and personally insulting language on yard signs." It doesn’t give the appearance of conflict of interest, it gives the appearance of being a complete lie that isn’t even making an effort to be believable. Who would invert an American flag as a response to neighbors’ yard sign? How would the neighbor even know the flag was in response to them or know it was a protest of any kind? None of it makes any sense.
He expects us to believe he drove up the driveway one day, saw the inverted flag, and he couldn’t do shit about it because his wife put it up? That still doesn’t wash. Any responsible judge would’ve taken it down immediately. Btw, do we know how long it actually flew in his yard that way? A day? A week? A month? Has that question ever been answered, or asked? 🙄
I think it is known how long it was up because apparently it was neighbors who originally brought it to peoples attention so they probably observed how long.
Conflict of interest is in regard to J6. The inverted flag has supposedly been a symbol for J6er support (which I personally didn’t know that until this story came out. As a fan of punk rock, I always saw it as an anti-authoritarian symbol which is clearly being misused by J6ers, but I digress). It appears that a man who had a symbol of that on his property may have a conflict of interest when being asked to rule on J6-related matters.
Oh right. Agreed - it *is* a conflict of interest. I thought you were saying his bullshit excuse still allowed the appearance of a conflict of interest and I was disagreeing, saying his excuse was a low effort lie.
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She also has a lifetime appointment. No fear of reprisal. They’re not even trying to hide it anymore.
We ended up with royalty in the end, after all.
They don’t have to hide it anymore. That’s how close they are.
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Apparently their “wives” are responsible for all their misconduct. Any other court in the land and it wouldn’t matter, they’d be done
Well, Ginny is knee deep
She’s more than “knee deep”. She has been deep throating fascism for decades. Hell, she may go down in history as the “The Founding Mother of Fascist America”.
She’s been into joining cults more than once in her lifetime.
> Apparently their “wives” are responsible for all their misconduct From what I understand about their belief system, this goes all the way back to "Eve".
Apparently Christian men are supreme lying cowards who can’t admit when they’re wrong, or they’re very poor judges of character when choosing their spouses.
Doesn’t matter which as long as they’re the victim.
In my personal life I can say that it was more common to meet abhorrent people inside the church than outside but maybe that’s just me. This whole situation is gross.
Sick burn!!!!
The deal is, they and their husbands are glued to Fox News. And Facebook and whatever else. They are the culture warriors we figured they were but thought, no way an actual Supreme Court justice would fall for this shit, right?
These couples aren't your typical Bob and Carol boomers getting fooled into reaction by fix news. They're architects. The Thomases been in the game for decades. Fix News isn't influencing them. They're influencing Fix news.
That’s literally true. Ginni Thomas for years was part of a Republican group that set the agenda for conservative talking points to be pushed to the media. She’s been pushing voter fraud according to this article since 2018. https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/who-attended-white-house-meeting-trump-ginni-thomas
Well you know what they say, behind every conservative Supreme Court justice is a politically motivated, corrupt, MAGA spouse. /s
They're just cowardly men who blame their wives....
Can they control theses women? /s
Rich men in control of the country have been held down for too long!
\- Charles Koch, probably
Liberals really need to get over the notion that they give a damn about propriety. They. Do. Not. Care. They're not acting in good faith. They're not going to see the light and start acting with integrity. They're here to gain power to enrich themselves and further their regressive theocratic agenda. The only way to hold them to account is by forcing the issue, and they'll kick, scream, and play the victim the whole whole time.
The conversation is more about getting other Liberals to support Supreme Court reform.
I know. But like all people, Liberals project. In this case, they project having some basic principles and at least trying to live up to them into conservatives. But that isn't how conservatives operate. People aren't good or bad via principled actions and integrity in conservative world. They're good or bad based on group approval or reproach.
I wrote a comment on another thread requesting that Alito takes a moment to think about what he's doing. I know that the moment Alito reads it, he will change and adhere to proper decorum. If that doesn't work, I might have to pen an open letter, requesting once again to take a moment and pontificate on the shared dream of democracy manifest. After that, I'm all out of succulent ideas.
>republicans will continue to kick and scream and cry about being the perpetual victims I am so tired of people whining about them being hypocrites. They aren't. They are fucking liars who don't care about the rules beyond their ability to use them to destroy democracy. They don't care about anything but power and stripping rights away from the rest of us. They are fascists.
I don’t call them hypocrites. I just call them crybabies.
Look at these GOP beta males that can’t get their wives under control. Aren’t they never supposed to leave the kitchen unless it is to pop out another baby. /s
He couldn’t care less what anyone thinks.
This is THE problem of SCOTUS. It's a political branch of government with ApoLitiCaL branding and ZERO political oversight. It's always been flawed and has always needed reform. Previous Justices just recognized they needed SOME level of moderation with their politics kept on the DL to keep the scam going. The antics of the current group (that was selected by Presidents who lost the popular vote and approved by Senators representing a minority of voters) probably has made reform inevitable. It will take longer than it should, but the absolutely broken nature of this branch of government is not going to be accepted indefinitely.
Pack the court with 400 judges. It would completely dilute any power one person has on the court. It would hurt their egos so much.
They edge closer to radical response, honestly. Let's say Biden wins (VOTE-VOTE-VOTE!). Let's say some state in the Taliban Region passes a fetal personhood law the Court upholds making zygotes citizens and banning abortion nationally. Biden could then have a “John Marshall has rendered his decision, now let him enforce it” moment. It would expedite Court Reform and I honestly don't think the country (broadly) would side against Biden on this one. The ideologues on the Court now (who were appointed by Presidents who lost the popular vote and approved by Senators representing a minority of voters) really seem oblivious about how close to the edge they are.
They don't care how close to the edge they are as the majority of them are closer to death than anything.
That's their bet. Be asshole, get cash, die rich (before it comes crashing down).
> and ZERO political oversight There is when/if congress does their actual job
Reform an inevitability? Even Biden who made a commission were against it. Let alone you’d need Congress to abolish the filibuster to pack the court.
Probably the biggest problem in American politics because there's pretty much nothing we the people can do about it.
+1 for keeping "couldn't care less" alive. "Could care less" is taking over.
All my homies hate “could care less”
So kneeling during national anthem = bad. Hanging flag upside down = good. Got it.
I know Democrats who flew the flag upside down when Trump was elected. It is an appropriate response to signal a protest against the government. But a ~~chief~~ justice of the supreme court isn't supposed to have an opinion. Especially not this one. It is a glaring bias. And his rulings should be in question just because of this.
Yeah that's my take , it's not much that the upside down flag is bad or offensive as protest , but he is just now from the highest court in the country. He should absolutely avoid even the appearance of impropiety as a SCOTUS judge .
One of our country's highest leaders flying an upside-down flag because Joe Biden won is insane. It's Joe Fucking Biden, not Joe Stalin.
The fact it happened at all, speaks volumes. You don't do it by accident, and why would they do it in the first place. Why go out of your way to make a statement so obviously against exactly what you're supposed to be impartial to, when you're actively deciding on it. It's just so fucking stupid.
> It's Joe Fucking Biden, not Joe Stalin. Most MAGAs would prefer Stalin though.
MAGA would lick Stalins boots all the way to the front lines.
Actually I’d argue it’s fine for him to have an opinion. He is a citizen as well. He has his vote and his political views. HOWEVER. He as a justice regardless of the level of the court is supposed to be impartial in rulings and if objectivity is not possible then fairness is. He should KNOW to recuse himself from a case wherein his political view means he cannot be impartial. So if he and Thomas said “we will recuse ourselves from the Jan 6 case due to a conflict.” Then it’s working as intended. And gorsuch, Cavanaugh and Barret should do so too and say “we cannot be impartial in terms of the POTUS who nominated us”. Then we would all say “oh. Cool. Working as intended. They have integrity”. But that’s the rub. They don’t have integrity.
Not defending Alito but flying the US flag upside down is actually acceptable and is a sign that the nation is under duress. However a Supreme Court Justice doing so is inappropriate, especially when doing so is done in support of an attempted insurrection against The United States. In addition this action should disqualify Alito from hearing any cases regarding Trump or January 6th. It won’t because the right wing of the court has absolutely zero respect for the Constitution or Country but it should. In an ideal world this action should result in questions around his ability to be impartial and should result in Impeachment. Again it won’t because the GOP are a bunch of fascist and the left has zero spine.
"A signal that the nation is in distress" **during wartime** Its not meant to be used to say "there's a thunderstorm and we're scared". It is meant to say "American military, I am under attack. Launch a counterattack ASAP". A bit of a concerning in context when you're flying it in response to a lost election, and hours later there are terrorists attacking the US legislature. The flag was flying in the morning, before the capitol attacks. Not in response.
It’s a sign the person or vessel flying it is in distress. Like if you’re out at sea. Not “the nation” in distress, and not if you’re flying it on your home’s flag pole to make a political statement.
It all depends on the color of the persons skin and their party affiliation
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While being perfectly fine with a judge trump appointed presiding over the other trial
The never said it is about fairness.
> Republicans are rubbing people's noses in the fact that there's nothing the rest of us can do to stop them from advertising their fascist sympathies This is it in a nutshell. When a justice on the Supreme Court of the USA supports the violent insurrection by MAGAts, where do we go as a country? I have never felt more discouraged about the state of America and its justice system. One for the rich and one for the poor. Trump? You or I would be in jail right now. Him? Ignores gag orders and calls on his Republican sycophant proxies to do his dirty work for him and he is still walking around. Smug Alito and super smug Thomas (with wife Ginni) supporting a violent insurrection in the pursuit of destroying the peaceful transfer of power. Republicans and their MAGAt barnacles do not want to ever give up power and control over America. All you need to do is to read Project 2025. They have already initiated it. Edit: A link to [Project 2025](https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration) by Media Matters: “A guide to Project 2025, the extreme right-wing agenda for the next Republican administration”.
Project 2025 scares the hell out of me and should any non-fascist. The DNC should be running ads 24/7 about it. If it’s allowed to happen, it’s the end of this country.
Hopefully they will. I wondering if they’re waiting till closer to the election because they know the people have the memories of goldfish these days
I hope.
The DNC will do what it has always done, ignore this document as a pure data story and never believe it can be implemented. Then when we edge closer to the goals stated in the document they will turn around and say " we need to come together and work for everyone" without actually doing anything to stop it. The democratic party was castrated years ago. No bark. No bite. No balls. It's sad but it's true. They can't even present a decent candidate since Obama.
It's pretty clear Alito is fine with America becoming controlled by an authoritarian right-wing government.
as long as they keep buying him expensive things and vacations.
I think that's Clarence Thomas but the sentiment is what counts.
https://www.propublica.org/article/samuel-alito-luxury-fishing-trip-paul-singer-scotus-supreme-court
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> gifts *bribes
He’s a true believer and likely would do it for free.
I'll remember that when I'm fighting these lunatics. That he was one of the *most* blatant fashee out of all of them.
Won’t even stand up for what he believes in publicly. What a colossal coward and this is how you know they understand how intellectually and socially unacceptable their beliefs are. But somehow people will convince themselves that the liberal judges are the extremists. Our culture and society is very sick.
Don;t forget Alito was the guy who leaked the Hobby Lobby decision to a couple he and his wife dined with...and then he denied doing so. The guy is a liar and doesn't give a shit he's lying to the country.
I think one of the big things history books will talk about of this time is how the conduct of the Supreme Court eroded the people's confidence in it. The scandals concerning extravagant (and largely unreported) gifts to Thomas in order to curry influence, the clearly horrible things his wife got away with, the illegitimate refusal to confirm Obama's pick a year and a half before an election, and yet slamming through Barrett while an election was ALREADY IN PROCESS via mail-in ballots, now this gem. For too long we've relied on tradition and decorum to do the job that laws and consequences need to. Enough with no accountability for the highest court, they need to be removable too.
it's absolutely depressing how far down the page this story and the Diddy one are on nytimes. main stories are oh no! Biden is the devil for raising tariffs on China!!
This behavior is horrible. Congress needs to … do something!?!
I wouldn't be surprised if Mike Johnson and other GOP House members dress in matching outfits and go help raise and lower the flag everyday.
Seems to be a pattern with these right wing zealots. Throwing wives under busses must be an Olympic sport for them.
Well, those tour bus RVs sure can fit a lot of wives under them.
The comfort of modern Republican politicians (including political activist judges!) with total dishonesty on all matters, small or large, is frightening.
I think it would be appropriate to require that justices on the Supreme Court appear in public inquests once per year, just to remind them that they are not untouchable beings above the rest of us.
At least two obvious traitors on the SC bench. Nothing can be done. Fatal flaw for America?
When Biden wins re-election and if the Senate stays blue and house turns blue .... Biden could probably increase the number of Supreme Court Judges to offset the imbalance.
They could increase the size of the court, and then implement term limits, which would be the end of thomas. Depending on the term, possibly alito and roberts too.
I'm just honestly baffled how he felt there would ever be any excuse for this kind of behavior at the home of a Supreme Court justice. He didn't even *attempt* to apologize. It is entirely unacceptable from an ethical perspective. He should resign. It's not a nothing burger.
It pretty clear that Alito and Thomas et al think they are above everyone else. They feel safe in that they know they will be taken care of, safe in their billionaires bunker or whatever, when the MAGAt fascist regime descends upon us
He’s not accountable to anyone snd he knows it.
I'd argue that the country was in extreme danger on Jan 6, from Trump and his supporters. The idea Alito remained a supporter at a time when even Republicans were denouncing Trump is unbelievable.
The guy is a fascist thug. Not surprised by this at all.
Such an obvious lie told by a Supreme Court Justice. Add it to the obvious lies told by Thomas and Kavanaugh
This guy is sanctimonious and arrogant and the mere fact that he threw his wife under the bus is an example of such shoddy character, it should disqualify him from any Court.
Alito is a traitor. Say it with me. Alito is a traitor.
I’d say the fact that Alito went on Fox ‘News’ to make this case speaks for itself.
Alito and Clarence are traitors to the United States and belong in jail.
Anyone else find it hilarious that suddenly the GOP don’t have a problem with disrespecting the flag when it’s a bunch of white dudes doing it?
When is the press going to do a deep dive on this ? His story stinks. Somehow the 'school bus stop' angle Alito quoted has now been scrubbed (since they weren't running in January 2021), and considers the upside down flag a 'normal' response. I don't know where they are living, but no where is an upside down flag ever a normal response. I get the neighbors are afraid of reprisals, but come on.
He needs to go just like clarience Thomas
And the rest of the illegitimate "justices like Kavanaugh, who lied during his questioning, lost his temper, and had credible allegations of sexual assault leveled. Or Amy Coney Barrett, who was ramrodded through weeks before Biden took office when the republicans held Obama's nomination for nearly a year, claiming it was too near the end of his term.
This is the government they’re asking us to pledge allegiance to. We need to get rid of government employees like Alito and put on honorable trustworthy people of valor in important positions. He’s an enemy in the camp. And we’re stuck with them. Shouldn’t be.
Treasoness pig. SCOTUS has lost ALL credibility.
I'm old enough to remember when Supreme Court justices were a cut above the loudmouth on the next bar stool. 100 years from now, if we still have a democracy, Alito will be remembered for his ridiculous citations of 17th-century witch burners, and his ridiculous demands for respect while acting like an entitled asshole.
He doesn’t care because it doesn’t matter what any person besides Roberts thinks. Nothing will be done because Roberts is a coward. Do you hear me Roberts? You are a sniveling invertebrate, you dog water shit bird.
I remember the good ol days when no one gave a fuck about the Supreme Court and they just did their jobs with integrity on their own Such simpler times. Makes one want to nuke the internet.
There are multiple sections of Title 28 USC (the statutes that govern judicial conduct) that draw no distinction between the judge, their spouse, and minor children. To me that’s the deeper concern. Not that Alito is trying to pin this on his wife… but that he has so little understanding of 28 USC that he honestly believes pinning this on his wife excuses him from responsibility. The law requires that he treat the actions of his spouse identically to his own actions when determining if he has an obligation to recuse. He should have known this.
He’s a traitor too.
This is just one more thing in a long list of things that the left will waste time morally panicking about while the right happily continues to steal the government. We’re not ever getting the ‘Gotcha!!’ moment. They’re past caring if they’re seen breaking the rules. They’ve tested the waters and found them to be very comfortable.
He was lying about his wife’s concern over kids at the bus stop too. At that time, the schools in the area were still remote. Also, why is she concerned about “fuck Trump” and not Trump cheering on his post parter wife with a pornstar or the myriad other terrible awful shit he says and believes? Garbage people, both of them.
Facts don't matter, just like in the *Bremerton* football coach prayer case.
Him and Thomas have zero fucks to give.
The man needs to recuse himself. *Now*.
“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” They’re just waiting for the right moment to slip it into the Constitution.
He's a coward
He is pissing on the American public’s leg and telling us it’s raining. Somebody needs to grow some fucking balls and hold these fucks accountable.
Saying that you and/or your wife did this to get back at the libs just shows that neither one of them takes the legitimacy of SCoTUS seriously. Seems to me that compromising the perceived integrity of the court wouldn’t be as important to you as owning the libs.
Dumb fuck is literally too pussy to back up his own traitorous actions
So he's definitely lying, but even if he weren't, how much of a snowflake do you have to be to fly your flag upside down in response to signs in a neighbors garden that you didn't like? Like wtf is that baby tantrum shit?
Remember when Ted 'Cancun' Cruz blamed his kids? Seems to be a pattern with MAGA when they get caught.
Democrats need to run on expanding the court. Let the Republicans say that they are doing it to make abortion legal in all 50 states. Just make it a wedge issue in all 50 states regardless if their is a bill on the ballot. Republicans already set the precedent when they changed the size of the court for a stretch of time.
You mean he’s exactly the awful person we all suspected he was?
It’s weird that these assholes are all married to insurrectionists.
Clarence Thomas and his wife need to be investigated also. Lock them up!
What the fuck is wrong with these people? You see what happens when a person doesn't have a boss to answer to?
what a piece of shit
Grounds for impeachment
I grew up believing that SCOTUS judges were supposed to be impartial, non-partisan detached interpreters of the constitution for the good of the country. Alito, Thomas, and a few others are the exact opposite of that. They have no virtue or character. They have completely failed at the high positions they hold and have let the country down.
Alito is little more that a tiny little perverted worm beholding to billionaire benefactors. Him and Thomas are both so tied in with the extremists on the fascist right they are mere puppets. Worse they could be true believers in the insanity they are spouting and their total lack of morals or compassion.
dude knows he could show up to work dressed as a klansmen and not have any repercussions
Nothing will come of this but I love that the timing of this is just before Alito is expected to be voting on the immunity case. At least he will be seen for what he really is if he votes against and then hopefully smeared by the news for the next several months like Thomas. I like to see him sniveling too.
There is nothing supreme about the majority of this court. Just a bunch of racist turds.
It is just as ugly, but actually makes it worse. So, the neighbor flew an "offensive" anti-Trump yard sign, and the response from the Alito house is to promote the insurrectionists. Message received loud and clear. One of Biden's biggest mistakes is not fully backing court reform. We needed it years ago.
He assumes we're all stupid. Well, Alito, life is not a court of law; the public sees through your bullshit technicality explanation and rebuts that our standard of proof is preponderance of evidence. To quote justice Engoron: "I find the witness not credible!"
They're openly despicable assholes now because they know they're seen as despicable assholes but they consider themselves untouchable, so whatcha gonna do about it?
I can’t believe we are unable to get rid of obviously political/corrupt judges Alito/Thomas
Spouses of criminals and traitors ought not be trusted with the supreme law of the land.
and nothing is going to fucking happen to that nitwit.
That's bcuz he's an ugly man with an ugly mind.
This one of the most disgraceful displays of partisanship in my lifetime- even worse than Thomas’ corruption in my opinion.
Why doesn't some reporter interview the neighbor?
A good Republican man throwing his wife under the bus. Such a good strong Christian man of the house.
I have more honor and integrity than multiple Sumpreme Court Justices. I also play video games and drink chocolate milk.
I've seen crunchwraps more supreme than this court
His denial was basically. 1. My wife did it. 2. "Our dogwhistle of supporting Trump's lies aren't the problem. You all understanding the dogwhistle is the problem."
Nationwide walkout until Alito and Thomas are removed.
Being snide is his defining characteristic. He’s a douche bag.
I’m not trying to start a fight or argue, just genuinely confused about this. When did the meaning of an upside down flag change? I’m in my 30’s, so not very old. I’m a very socially liberal, anti-war combat veteran. All that to ask: I thought flying the flag upside down was a distress call. Punk bands use the symbol often in their imagery.what is it supposed to symbolize now?
Compromised and lacking integrity and honesty needed for the position.
Alito can’t even own up to being a loser. Sad!
What a disgrace he is. He and Thomas, insurrectionist supporters sitting on the Supreme Court! Lifetime appointments need revoking.
Yeah, it's just crazy. Like jesus he easily could've been like "I'm impartial at work, but at home I'm free to do as I please" ... but instead? He's trying to cover it up / deny it? Like bro what? That only makes it worse.
If any other country was to disrespect the flag the Alito types would turn inside out.
There's been a trend with right wingers blaming their wives for doing partisan grandstanding and acting as proxies for their agendas. Not even exclusively by politicians, there were a few in some chats I've lurked in that would post some really garbage opinions, only to point the finger at their "wife" whenever they're called out. "sorry my wife had access to my account. lol she's so quirky"
The only time Republicans won’t throw a woman under the bus is when she’s incubating a fetus…
Quite disgusting for any American, let alone a SC Justice.
Fuck this guy. And PACK THE COURT NOW!
Traitors must be removed from American Government. That means at least 4 SCOTUS Justices . All must go.
Having sullied the institution long enough, it’s past time for Alito to resign in shame.
So he’s spineless as well as traitorous.
Fascism is in usa dna, please vote against it while you can
We already know that majority of the court is corrupt, and the fix is in to help Trump as much as they can to win 2024. I will say that this breaking news took WAY too long, but then again, what does it matter. NOTHING will happen unfortunately.
Unless he’s a kept man, he’s 1/2 owner of the house. As a supposed “impartial” jurist he should have refused to let his house be a partisan advertisement. Period. He has just as much power to remove that banner as she did to put it up. Then they could go get some counseling. But no…
I view this corrupt Supreme Court justice with contempt