ALITO SHINES

Supreme Court Justice Alito Jr. was a little smarter than failed Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers (apparently not that hard, by the way), at least until a few days ago - he waited until he was comfortably seated at his Supreme Court bench to show his true colors.

And it seems these true colors range from religious conservatism to a troubling lack of political savvy - dangerous combination...

Recently, Alito sent a thank-you letter to Focus on the Family's James Dobson, a very strange and very powerful man who believes that homosexuality can be "cured" (meaning, he thinks homosexuality is a disease); he also manages to find a parallel between stem cell research and the horrific experiments conducted in Nazi Germany under the guise of science; and, he obviously is opposed to abortion and advocates pre-marital sexual abstinence.

The letter expressed Alito's gratitude for Dobson's support during the nomination and confirmation process, and in it Alito vowed: "as long as I serve on the Supreme Court, I will keep in mind the trust that has been placed in me".

Now, the letter itself is slightly over the top, no doubt. But it appears that Alito also asked Dobson to convey his appreciation to all those who supported him as well. Which Dobson promptly did by sharing the letter with his audience at a recent broadcast of his daily show.

Aside from the fact that I doubt Alito sent such an enthusiastic letter to every single one of his supporters, the situation is a bit surreal. First, that was not the smartest of moves from Alito's position; and second, Dobson's decision to read the letter on worldwide radio is also a bit puzzling - even if this is all about "thank you" and nothing else, it could very well backfire and raise questions about Alito's loyalties and how those will influence his performance as a Supreme Court Justice.

Or we could just look at Dobson's choice of action as pure arrogance, especially when followed by this statement: "We do not yet know how these men (Alito and Chief Justice Roberts) will vote, but every indication is that they get it, they understand". He also added that their confirmation may be "just in time, because partial-birth abortion is now being considered by the Supreme Court."

I truly hope this is just an old-fashioned blunder. On all counts.