Alito's thank you note to Dobson -- the horror!

Well, well, well. Looks like PFAW's favorite legal ethicist, Stephen Gillers, is back to comment on a thank you note that Justice Samuel Alito wrote to Dr. James Dobson, Focus on the Family.

The thank-you note is standard fare, quite frankly.

But given the overreaction by the left, it is clear that either thank-you notes are entirely foreign to leftists, which would not surprise me, or, as usual, they have decided to read into this letter a meaning that just isn't there.

Apparently, what really has them upset, is phrase about the trust that has been placed in him with this appointment. The leftists really believe that because of that phrase, Sam Alito is some kind of Supreme Court version of a "Manchurian Candidate", ready to execute some dastardly plan. They could not be more wrong.

Sam Alito is a strict constructionist who embraces the Constitution first and foremost. This is someone who, as a Justice who practices judicial restraint, is not going to run pell-mell into some kind of conservative judicial activist agenda, whatever that is. An inconvenient fact for the left seems to be the idea that judicial activism resides on the left -- it is leftist cases that have departed from Constitutional principles. The Left invented penumbras and dearly love to discover new ways to "emanate" in them. This is what frightens the Left -- a Supreme Court Justice that won't kiss the ring of leftists and emanate in the newest penumbras, but instead will actually apply the Constitution as it is written. The horror!

A couple of points:

-- Do a search sometime on Stephen Gillers. He comments on all things having to do with judicial nominees, clearly at the request of PFAW. Clearly, PFAW believes that trotting out so-called "legal ethicists" will have some effect on the perception of their latest target.

-- Does anyone really believe that a NY Times reporter was sitting around listening to Dr. Dobson's program? How did the reporter come to learn about this radio show of Dobson's in which the letter was mentioned? Anyone want to bet that it was PFAW or Alliance for Justice that dropped this so-called "bombshell" to this reporter?

-- Someone please tell me why it is a big deal that Alito thanked Focus on the Family for their work on his nomination in the first place. Was this some sort of secret that FOTF was in favor of Alito's nomination? Furthermore, why shouldn't Alito have a cadre of supporters? After all, judicial nominees are not allowed to say word one to the press and for the honor that is bestowed upon them by the President of the United States, they get to wake up every morning to a news outlet publishing the latest wrong bit of information or twisted press release that some leftist bend on destroying the reputation of anyone that doesn't embrace a liberal philosophy has tossed out there for all to see. Since judicial nominees aren't allowed to respond until their hearing date, what is wrong with organizations defending a nominee they believe in? Are we to believe that Ralph Neas or Nan Aron do not have any thank you notes in their offices from federal judicial nominees like, say, Ruth Bader Ginsburg? If not, then my theory stands about leftists and social graces. Anything traditional is clearly tossed aside.

-- If you want to see the tone of the usual hate mail received by anyone who disagrees with the left, check this out. I have never understood the affection the left has for four letter words. Do they think they sound tough? Resolute? Intelligent?

Bottom line here is that the extremist left-wing organizations, bent on destroying Alito and Roberts, are setting the stage and gearing up for what they consider to be the mother of all judicial nominations battle -- the next open seat. Mark my words, here. You think these folks were nasty before? You ain't seen nothin' yet.