America’s sorest winners
By 
There were several tantalizing but now depressing inflection points at which the US could have had its first liberal median Supreme Court vote since the early Nixon administration. One can only wonder how angry and bitter Sam Alito would have been had that happened, and what a tragedy that we will almost certainly never know:
But Alito’s reaction is entirely consistent with the worldview he has revealed within and beyond his jurisprudence time and time again. Because even though Samuel Alito is a Supreme Court justice with lifetime tenure and all the power that position entails, he still wants more.
The justice seems to believe that he and the court are so thoroughly supreme that they must be free of even a whiff of public criticism. Alito demands perpetual public and professional affirmation — a safe space, if you will, where he is protected from micro-aggressions, bathed in praise and consistently depicted as reasonable and judicious regardless of whether he actually is. And when his reception falls short of that, he lashes out at his critics no matter who they are.
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It takes real cheek for a member of the Supreme Court to insist that he and the institution he serves are entitled to the public’s good opinion even in the face of indefensible behavior and decisions. And Alito is not just any public official demanding praise. He is one tasked with making rules that govern the entire country, not just those who agree with him.
And yet this man who has penned fiery dissents in decisions securing equal rights for LGBTQ+ people and other minority groups is so thin-skinned that he can’t brook a hint of dissent directed at him. The man who represents an institution charged with interpreting the 1st Amendment can’t bear others exercising their free speech rights to criticize him. Instead, he uses his stature and appearances to take potshots at those bold enough to question an institution that, as we keep learning, is loath to observe rules or restrictions.
The conservative legal movement long defined itself in opposition to liberal judicial “imperialism.” And yet it is Justice Alito, a prominent face of that project, who insists on the prerogatives of an emperor-king, among them unstinting general adulation and complete insulation from critique. It’s no wonder the court’s public standing is in trouble: Some of the justices seem to be letting the term “supreme” go to their heads.
Back in 2005, it was the consensus of Savvy pundits that liberals caught a real break when Bush nominated Alito, because evaluating based on tone rather than substance is a great way of getting ahead in American media. And Alito has long since stopped even worrying about tone.