KIMBERLEY STRASSEL: A Flagging Campaign Against Justice Alito: The ‘ethics’ attack having failed, the left turns to flag etiquette.
Yeah, well, the left has been burning flags and putting them on the seat of their pants for my entire lifetime, so STFU about etiquette.
Plus:
It might seem that nothing could top such silliness, but never underestimate an obsessive. This week we are also told—in ominous tones—that Justice Alito in August 2023 sold a small holding of shares in Anheuser-Busch some four months after the company’s decision to broadcast its wokeness by forming a public partnership with a transgender social influencer. Investors had for months been fleeing a stock that was near bottom, so if anything, Justice Alito was behind the trend. Yet this act of portfolio management is now presented as proof that the justice supported an anti-transgender “boycott.”
Democratic politicians and activists are racing to translate these meritless stories into futile actions. Nearly 50 House Democrats on Tuesday signed a letter demanding Justice Alito recuse himself from any Jan. 6-related litigation and for Justice Thomas to join him because his wife works in politics. Tennessee Rep. Steve Cohen introduced a resolution of censure against Justice Alito, for not having already recused himself from Jan. 6 cases.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer suggested he may call for a vote on a Democratic bill that would dictate recusal standards for the justices—a challenge to the separation of powers. The activist group Demand Justice says it will spend “six figures” on ads calling on Justice Alito to recuse himself. The group began its effort on Tuesday by unimaginatively projecting an upside-down flag onto the Supreme Court building.
This desperation belies any claim that the left’s interest is in ethics at the high court. The nonstop attacks—week after week—are aimed at altering the outcome of high-profile cases currently in front of the court, including Donald Trump’s claim that presidential immunity shields him from criminal charges related to the Jan. 6 riot. If the activists could force a recusal or two, they might sway a decision. If they fail, as they almost certainly will, they will continue smearing the court and casting doubt on the legitimacy of its decisions, with the longer-term aim of enacting legislation to pack the court by adding new justices when the Democrats control the White House and Congress.
The left tries to destroy any institution it can’t control. Note that the weak link in this process is that it depends on uncritical press support. The press should be made uncomfortable when it does this. If the parties were reversed the left would go after them — individually — Alinsky-style.