Over the last few weeks, there has been a big push in the media and by Democrats to go after Justice Samuel Alito for flags that were hanging at his home and vacation home.
Alito has finally answered the call, and Dems are not going to be happy with what he said.
Talking Points…
- Alito flag controversies
- Alito responds to calls for recusal
- Analysis
This all started when a picture surfaced from Alito’s home several years ago of the American flag flying upside down, a sign of distress. Alito said his wife hung the flag like that due to an ongoing beef with a neighbor. He claims he had nothing to do with it and that this was just his wife responding to threats by a neighbor.
Things then got kicked up a notice when “An Appeal to Heaven” flag picture surfaced that was flying at Alito’s vacation home. The story was several years old, but the media had buried it. With January 6 cases now starting to come before the court, the New York Times published a piece declaring that Alito had flown a symbol of January 6 because there were some of these flags flying at the Capitol during the riot.
What the media failed to recognize, however, was that this is a Revolutionary War-era flag that was commissioned by General George Washington and flown on naval vessels at the time. It remained a nautical flag in the state of Massachusetts and has never been considered controversial. To that point, it currently flies outside the offices of at least two members of Congress.
The media pieces really got Democrats fired up, to the point that several Democrats, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), called for Alito to recuse himself from the January 6 cases. Alito had remained silent, but Democrats penned a letter to Chief Justice Roberts to pressure him to do so.
Alito finally responded to the calls with a very blunt message to his detractors, stating:
“A reasonable person who is not motivated by political or ideological considerations or a desire to affect the outcome of Supreme Court cases would conclude that this event does not meet the applicable standard for recusal.
“I am therefore duty-bound to reject your recusal request.”
Alito also addressed his wife’s connections to the flags that were flown, writing:
“She makes her own decisions, and I have always respected her right to do so.
“She has made many sacrifices to accommodate my service on the Supreme Court, including the insult of having to endure numerous, loud, obscene, and personally insulting protests in front of our home that continue to this day and now threaten to escalate.”
Alito went on to describe the altercation between his wife and their neighbor and explain that his wife was very fond of flying different flags, something that I can relate to. I lived in a shore community for almost a decade, and we all looked forward to Flag Day and changing our flags for the season. I particularly enjoyed flying different Revolutionary War-era flags, including the Sons of Liberty Flag, the Grand Union Flag, and the Betsy Ross Flag, which I generally flew throughout the summer.
This entire narrative about Alito is utterly ridiculous, as you cannot tie someone to a “radical” group over a flag if they just happen to fly the same flag. If that were the case, then the American flag should have also been banned after January 6. This is liberals stirring a pot that was doing just fine simmering on its own. Well done, Justice Alito, because there is no need to recuse yourself from these cases.
