On the Eve of Destruction…
I was thinking of the countless replays of Martha-Ann Alito’s tears in early January at her husband’s Judiciary Committee “advise and consent” hearings. Everyone speculated in CableNewsonia that she was upset by the attacks upon her husband, but I shall take a contrarian view–only for the sake of argument.
Before stating that opinion, I claim no moral high ground as the post-modern embodiment of Robert Young’s Father Knows Best husband. I do as well as I can and hope for the best. Nevertheless, admitting to a general run of short-comings, does give a more balanced–if incorrect–view.
Could it be that Mrs. Alito’s tears were the result of hearing for the first time her husband’s opinions. Had I arrived at his legal conclusions, it is with near certainty that I would not have repeated those heartless positions in front of either wife or children or family Neon Tetra.
How does one tell a loving wife that:
1. He sided with police against a family whose eight-year-old son was shot and killed as he ran with an older lady’s purse and a sawbuck. Excessive force? Not to Sam.
2. He felt the plaintiff’s attorney had missed the chance in the case of a young mentally retarded man’s suit after having been viciously, sexually harassed at the place of his employment.
3. Yes, he belonged to the Concerned Alumni of Princeton group which found women and blacks to be a distasteful aspect of that Ivy League university. That Sam joined despite being the son of immigrants could be seen as a form of self-loathing. Yikes!
4. He landed squarely on the side of saintly mine owners in a case of non-enforcement of existing safety standards.
5. Someone had to stop those farmers from calling their attorney during an eviction. A gun to the back of a woman’s head does wonders in truncating telephone use.
6. He sided with the cops in the strip-search of a ten-year old girl. Who knows? She could have been holdin.’
7. He championed big government against individual citizens.
Frankly, tears would seem to be the only normal reaction to discovering that one’s spouse exhibited sub-reptilian qualities in the arena of civil rights and social justice. The “you don’t know the facts” argument fades quickly at the realization that–thankfully–Sam’s were often minority opinions in the mentioned cases. Then again, isn’t it with this type of guy that our fearless leader feels kinship? Besides, he’ll need Sam’s vote when the domestic spying case reaches the court.
One can only hope these were the reason for her tears, but life experience says otherwise.