What exactly was going through Martha Anne Alito’s head when she burst into tears and ran out of her husband’s hearing? We may never know. But I have a few ideas. In order to fully understand how the tragic story transpired, we must look back at Alito’s paper trail. Unlike John Roberts, Samuel Alito left a treasure trove of incriminating documents. Alito wrote in a
1985 memo, for example, that he “personally believed very strongly” that
"the Constitution does not protect a right to an abortion.” He was proud enough of his membership in
Concerned Alumni of Princeton (an organization that was so opposed to the admission of women and minorities,
Bill Frist made sure to distance himself from it) to include it on a job application. Always judicous, fair and legal minded, Alito is equally dismissive of women and people of color. He even wrote:
"I am particularly proud of my contributions in recent cases in which the government argued that racial and ethnic quotas should not be allowed and that the Constitution does not protect a right to an abortion." Alito had an understandably difficult time answering the questions posed to him by the Democrat senators on the judicial committee. When Chuck Schumer asked Alito if he still he believed that abortion was not protected by The Constitution, Alito could do nothing but evade the question and talk in circles.
SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER:
Judge Alito, in 1985 you wrote that “the Constitution” -- these are your words -- “does not protect a right to an abortion.” And you said… that those words accurately reflected your view at the time. Now let me ask you, do they accurately reflect your view today? Do you stand by that statement? Do you disavow it? Do you embrace it?
JUDGE SAMUEL ALITO: Senator, it was an accurate statement of my views at the time. That was in 1985, and I made it from my vantage point as an attorney in the Solicitor General's office, but it was an expression of what I thought at that time. If the issue were to come before me as a judge, if I'm confirmed, and if this issue were to come up, the first question that would have to be addressed is the question of stare decisis, which I've discussed earlier, and it's a very important doctrine, and that was the starting point and the ending point of the joint opinion in Casey. And then, if I were to get beyond that, if the court were to get beyond the issue of stare decisis, then I would have to go through the whole judicial decision-making process before reaching a conclusion.
SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER: But, sir, I am not asking you about stare decisis. I'm not asking you about cases. I'm asking you about this: the United States Constitution. As far as I know, it's the same as it was in 1985, with the exception of the 27th Amendment, which has nothing to do with what we're talking about. Regardless of case law, in 1985 you stated -- you stated it proudly, unequivocally, without exception -- that the Constitution does not protect a right to an abortion. Do you believe that now?
JUDGE SAMUEL ALITO: The answer to the question is that I would address that issue in accordance with the judicial process, as I understand it and as I have practiced it. That's the only way I can answer that question.
SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER: Well, okay, I know you're not going to answer the question. I didn't expect really that you would, although I think it would be important that you would. I think it's part of your obligation to us that you do, particularly that you stated it once before, so any idea that you're approaching this totally fresh, without any inclination or bias, goes by the wayside. But I do have to tell you, Judge, your refusal I find troubling.
Even more embarrassing, was Alito’s “response” to Senator Leahy’s questions about the judge’s membership in Concerned Alumni of Princeton (CAP)
SEN. PATRICK LEAHY: “[y]ou proudly, in 1985… in your job application proudly put that you were a member of it, a member of Concerned Alumni at Princeton University… why, in heaven's name, Judge, with your background and what your father faced, why in heaven's name were you proud of being part of C.A.P.?
JUDGE SAMUEL ALITO: Well, Senator, I have racked my memory about this issue, and I really have no specific recollection of that organization. But since I put it down on that statement, then I certainly must have been a member at that time. But if I had been actively involved in the organization in any way, if I had attended meetings or been actively involved in any way, I would certainly remember that. And I don't.
Wow Judge Alito! That makes Clinton’s “I did not inhale excuse” look totally legitimate. It’s almost as good as your excuse for not recusing yourself from a case involving the Vanguard Group a company in which you held $390,000 in mutual funds: a “computer glitch”!
The only thing Alito could do besides lie and evade the questions was remind the senators that he came from a hard working Italian/ Italian-American family. We know. You’ve told us this before. I can recite Samuel Sr. and Rose’s biographies by heart. We know you’re Italian-American.
We’ve seen your wife’s suits.
So Alito can’t defend himself. And the Republicans on the committee can’t offer any real evidence to challenge the damning claims of the Democrats. So the Republican senators have adopted a two prong strategy.
1) Hyperbolize everything that the democrats have said
2) Turn the hyperbole into the form of a rhetorical question AND actually have Alito give an answer, thus rendering the question unrhetorical.
Examples include Senator Orin Hatch’ slamming Alito with the tough question:
“So let me just ask you directly, on the record, are you against women and minorities attending colleges?” To which Alito, surprisingly, responded “Absolutely not, Senator, no." A sceptical Hatch replied: "Now, I felt that that would be your answer, I really did. It's a good question though, it's one that kind of overcomes the implications that you were."Lindsey Graham’s questions were responsible for Mrs. Alito’s breakdown. Graham reamed Alito with,
"Are you really a closet bigot?" The good Judge said "I am not any kind of bigot. I'm not.” And Graham finished with: "No, sir, you're not.... You seem to be a decent, honorable man." Hearing someone call your husband an “honarable” “decent” man would make even the most stoic of women cry.
But really, how stupid is Alito’s wife if she fails to realize that Lindsey Graham doesn’t REALLY think her husband’s a bigot? That he’s making fun of the DEMOCRATS’ claim that Alito is a bigot, and defending him as “decent and honorable.”
There are only two possible scenarios to explain Mrs. Alito’s outburst.
1) Knowing her husband bigoted ways better than anyone else, she heard the word “bigot,” doesn’t know that Graham is a Republican, has never encountered sarcasm, assumed her husband was finally being outed, and freaked out because now she would never be Mrs. Supreme Court.
2) This was a sinister plan gone all wrong. Knowing that his bigotry is well documented in court cases, memos, statements etc. Alito came up with a strategy to deflect attention from his bigotry. The plan was hatched as follows
ALITO: “You and I both know I’m a bigot. But that can’t get into the news. So we have to cause some kind of distraction whenever anyone accuses me of being racist, sexist or bigotted.”
MRS. ALITO: “I could start a fire, judge.”
MRS. ALITO: “No Mrs. Alito, you cannot start a fire. You’ll be sitting behind me during the hearings and if you started a fire you’d be caught on camera. The husband of a pyronmaniac could never get confirmed. I know, whenever you hear the word racist, sexist, or bigot, burst into tears and run out of the room. It will be a great distraction. And we’ll win sympathy points.”
But the usually thorough judge was not strict enough in his language. What he needed to say was “Whenever you hear the word racist, sexist, or bigot, from the mouth of a Democratic senator speaking in earnest, and keep your eye on Kennedy in particular, burst into tears and run out of the room. But don’t do anything if you hear the word racist, sexist, or bigot, from the mouth of a Republican senator speaking in jest.
So when Mrs. Alito heard the word bigot come out of Senator Graham’s mouth, she, as programmed, burst into tears and ran out of the room.
