Read the Beforeitsnews.com story here. Advertise at Before It's News here.
Profile image
By Reason Magazine (Reporter)
Contributor profile | More stories
Story Views
Now:
Last hour:
Last 24 hours:
Total:

Flagpole to Heaven

% of readers think this story is Fact. Add your two cents.


I’ve learned a few things this past week about the Alitos. It seems that they have flag poles at their homes, and use flags to convey messages. I’m not sure if the Alitos have taken class on flag semaphore. What those messages are, exactly, I do not know.

At the Alito home in Virginia, Mrs. Alito flew the flag upside down as part of some neighborly spat. Was this some sort of secret symbol that Martha-Ann was trying to stop the steal? There is no actual evidence of this, but countless news stories, and politicians, accepted this insinuation as obvious. I think it far more likely that she was trying to signal distress with her neighbors.

Last summer, at the Alito home in New Jersey, an “Appeal to Haven” flag was flown. I had never heard of this Pine Tree Flag before. The flag traces its roots to George Washington’s Continental Army in 1775. (Before you read Wikipedia, review the changes made in the past 24 hours.)

According to the New York Times, the flag can now be seen as “a symbol of support [1] for former President Donald J. Trump, [2] for a religious strand of the ‘Stop the Steal’ campaign and [3] for a push to remake American government in Christian terms.” A bit of a hodgepodge to be sure. Did Mr. or Mrs. Alito choose to fly this flag to “stop the steal” nearly three years after the election? That seems a stretch. Again, there is no actual evidence of this, but countless news stories, and politicians, will accept this insinuation as obvious.

I think it is far more likely that the Alitos used the flag to convey some sort of message about religion. Exactly what, I’m not sure. But let’s assume that Justice Alito personally chose to fly this flag. Here, at least, he did not blame his wife, so we might infer that he was aware of the flag. Much of the New York Times articles focuses on whether Alito should recuse from any Trump-related case. But I’m surprised they missed a more obvious angle: if Alito is trying to endorse some kind of Christian nationalism, shouldn’t he recuse in all Free Exercise and Establishment Clause cases? Why limit the recusal attacks to the election cases?

If you’d like to go down that road, there is plenty of other evidence you can use. Justice Alito has publicly attended mass at various churches throughout the country and given speeches that lamented how religious liberty has come under siege. Forget cryptic symbols about an arboreal flag. Alito has been quite overt with his views on the topic.

I know it is gauche to talk about Justice Ginsburg, but I will. In August 2013, she made headlines by being the first Supreme Court Justice to preside at a same-sex wedding. Five months later, the Supreme Court granted cert in Obergefell v. Hodges, and in June 2014, Justice Ginsburg joined a majority opinion that found a right to same-sex marriage somewhere in the penumbras of the Fourteenth Amendment. The act of marrying a same-sex couple, far more than a cryptic flag, signaled Justice Ginsburg’s views on the topic. She did not recuse. It is true enough that Ginsburg apologized for her comments about President Trump, but he did not recuse in Trump-related cases that turned on his conduct during the election. (Mark Paoletta makes these points in WSJ.)

The Times article observed that today, the Alitos’ flagpole to heaven was “bare.” Maybe they can still whisper their thoughts in the recesses of their homes.

The post Flagpole to Heaven appeared first on Reason.com.


Source: https://reason.com/volokh/2024/05/22/flagpole-to-heaven/


Before It’s News® is a community of individuals who report on what’s going on around them, from all around the world.

Anyone can join.
Anyone can contribute.
Anyone can become informed about their world.

"United We Stand" Click Here To Create Your Personal Citizen Journalist Account Today, Be Sure To Invite Your Friends.

Humic & Fulvic Liquid Trace Mineral Complex

HerbAnomic’s Humic and Fulvic Liquid Trace Mineral Complex is a revolutionary New Humic and Fulvic Acid Complex designed to support your body at the cellular level. Our product has been thoroughly tested by an ISO/IEC Certified Lab for toxins and Heavy metals as well as for trace mineral content. We KNOW we have NO lead, arsenic, mercury, aluminum etc. in our Formula. This Humic & Fulvic Liquid Trace Mineral complex has high trace levels of naturally occurring Humic and Fulvic Acids as well as high trace levels of Zinc, Iron, Magnesium, Molybdenum, Potassium and more. There is a wide range of up to 70 trace minerals which occur naturally in our Complex at varying levels. We Choose to list the 8 substances which occur in higher trace levels on our supplement panel. We don’t claim a high number of minerals as other Humic and Fulvic Supplements do and leave you to guess which elements you’ll be getting. Order Your Humic Fulvic for Your Family by Clicking on this Link , or the Banner Below.



Our Formula is an exceptional value compared to other Humic Fulvic Minerals because...


It’s OXYGENATED

It Always Tests at 9.5+ pH

Preservative and Chemical Free

Allergen Free

Comes From a Pure, Unpolluted, Organic Source

Is an Excellent Source for Trace Minerals

Is From Whole, Prehisoric Plant Based Origin Material With Ionic Minerals and Constituents

Highly Conductive/Full of Extra Electrons

Is a Full Spectrum Complex


Our Humic and Fulvic Liquid Trace Mineral Complex has Minerals, Amino Acids, Poly Electrolytes, Phytochemicals, Polyphenols, Bioflavonoids and Trace Vitamins included with the Humic and Fulvic Acid. Our Source material is high in these constituents, where other manufacturers use inferior materials.


Try Our Humic and Fulvic Liquid Trace Mineral Complex today. Order Yours Today by Following This Link.

Report abuse

Comments

Your Comments
Question   Razz  Sad   Evil  Exclaim  Smile  Redface  Biggrin  Surprised  Eek   Confused   Cool  LOL   Mad   Twisted  Rolleyes   Wink  Idea  Arrow  Neutral  Cry   Mr. Green

MOST RECENT
Load more ...

SignUp

Login

Newsletter

Email this story
Email this story

If you really want to ban this commenter, please write down the reason:

If you really want to disable all recommended stories, click on OK button. After that, you will be redirect to your options page.