Ruth Marcus in The Washington Post:
The upside-down U.S. flag flying at the home of Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. — only days after the Trump-inspired insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021 — shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. After all, Alito has been doing the moral equivalent for years —and at the office, which is way worse. In oral arguments, in speeches and in opinions themselves, he is the Fox News-iest of justices, most likely to pick up on conservative media talking points and most predictably partisan when it comes to his votes.
Of course, the flag flying was grossly improper, an apparent endorsement of the “Stop the Steal” movement. Alito himself seemed to recognize this as he blamed his wife for the oh-say-can-you-see moment, asserting it flew just briefly after a neighborhood dispute escalated into a profane personal attack on Martha-Ann Alito. She should apologize; whatever the provocation, justices and their wives should behave in a way that is above reproach. This wasn’t. And the justice himself should provide more information about how long the flag was up, how quickly he intervened, and why. That would help the public assess whether Alito should heed calls from Democrats such as Sen. Dick Durbin (Ill.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.) to recuse himself from the election-related cases now pending, one involving former president Donald Trump’s assertion that he has absolute presidential immunity from criminal prosecution for his official acts, the other concerning the scope of an obstruction statute under which Trump has been charged.
I’m not there — not yet, although The Post’s reporting on neighbors who said the flag was upside down for two to five days gives me pause.
More here.