Louisiana
Solicitor
General
and
former
Alito
clerk
Ben
Aguiñaga
has
a
new
piece
exploding
the
widespread
“media
smear”
of
Justice
Samuel
Alito
as
“unhappy,”
“aggrieved,”
and
“wronged.”
He
doesn’t
link
to
anything
—
why
bring
receipts
when
calling
out
a
supposedly
vast
media
conspiracy?
—
but
he’s
presumably
responding
to
Joan
Biskupic’s
December
CNN
article
describing
Alito
as
an
“unhappy”
winner.
Which
was
itself
a
continuation
of
a
2022
Slate
piece
by
Dahlia
Lithwick
and
Mark
Joseph
Stern
wondering
why
he’s
perpetually
furious
about
everything.
So,
despite
failing
to
show
his
work,
Aguiñaga’s
not
wrong
about
the
general
perception.
Aguiñaga’s
response?
Alito
eats
Campbell’s
soup
and
doesn’t
make
his
clerks
work
weekends.
Case
closed,
libs!
But
before
we
get
to
the
substance
—
a
word
I’m
using
generously
here
—
it’s
worth
noting
that
Aguiñaga
is
Louisiana’s
Solicitor
General
and
has
a
case
before
the
Supreme
Court
asking
the
justices
to
make
it
harder
for
Black
voters
to
elect
representatives
of
their
choice.
The
conservative
majority
—
including
Alito
—
appear
ready
to
kick
the
Voting
Rights
Act
in
the
genitals,
so
it’s
not
as
though
he
needs
a
fawning
tribute
to
influence
the
decision.
That
said,
a
guy
with
matters
actively
pending
before
a
justice
he’s
publicly
fellating
in
a
Fox
News
article
isn’t
an
ideal
look
for
the
justice
system.
Critics
of
Supreme
Court
justices
frequently
resort
to
unfair
caricatures
of
those
justices
that,
the
critics
hope,
will
generate
clicks
and
likes.
“Clicks
and
likes?”
My
brother
in
Christ,
what
exactly
do
you
think
YOU’RE
doing?
A
puff
piece
in
Fox
News
hinting
at
a
liberal
media
smear
campaign?
I
will
guarantee
that
drives
more
numbers
than
a
long
form
CNN
post
the
week
between
Christmas
and
New
Year’s.
Even
if
it
doesn’t,
it
chases
the
only
like
and
click
it
seeks
from
its
audience
of
one.
The
whole
exercise
reeks
of
the
Trump
playbook,
where
everyone
from
CEOs
to
Nobel
laureates
heap
praise
on
the
boss.
Trump’s
televised
cabinet
meetings
feel
like
North
Korean
media
these
days.
Alito
has
exhibited
terminal
Fox
News
brain
for
years,
so
if
someone
wanted
to
get
a
complimentary
message
to
the
justice,
Fox
News
would
be
a
logical
place
to
go.
Has
Alito
become
as
cooked
as
the
47th
President?
Interesting
question.
As
Trump
might
say,
“many
people
are
asking.”
Remarkably,
Aguiñaga
doesn’t
even
address
the
actual
criticism
it
sets
out
to
rebut.
Reporters
on
the
Supreme
Court
beat
point
out
that
Alito
is
increasingly
snippy
at
oral
argument
and
snarling
in
writing.
Aguiñaga’s
response
that
Alito
is…
nice
to
his
clerks.
Some
jurists
are
reputed
to
be
harsh
taskmasters.
Not
Justice
Alito.
Not
only
did
he
lighten
our
loads
at
all
costs,
but
he
also
never
raised
his
voice
or
directed
displeasure
toward
us.
That
is
not
because
we
were
perfect
—
one
time
I
had
to
apologize
for
turning
in
a
memo
a
day
late,
but
he
did
not
bat
an
eye.
To
the
contrary,
the
justice
took
every
opportunity
he
could
to
encourage
us.
I
remember
one
particularly
long
memo
battle
that
we
fought
and
won.
He
could
have
walked
off
with
the
victory.
But
instead,
he
took
time
to
give
me
a
thoughtful
thank
you
note
for
my
assistance.
Yeesh.
Whenever
someone
tries
to
launder
Clarence
Thomas’s
reputation,
they
at
least
bring
up
how
he
knows
the
name
of
every
janitor
on
staff.
Alito
just
gets
an
extended
anecdote
dump
about
being
cool
with
the
Federalist
Society
sycophants
he
hand-picks
as
his
personal
assistants.
Is
the
legal
profession
so
broken
that
“not
a
monster
to
work
for”
is
a
glowing
compliment?
Yes,
it
is.
But
I
digress.
Being
pleasant
to
people
who
work
directly
for
him
has
little
bearing
on
whether
he’s
consumed
with
rage
at
everyone
else.
There’s
nothing
mutually
exclusive
about
politely
asking
a
clerk
about
weekend
plans
on
Friday
AND
flying
insurrectionist
flags
at
your
home
on
Saturday.
As
another
former
Alito
clerk
noted
when
distancing
herself
from
her
former
boss
over
the
flag
business:
you
can
believe
someone
is
personally
honorable
while
recognizing
that
their
conduct
has
become
indefensible.
Magda
Goebbels
made
excellent
strudel,
as
they
say.
Which
isn’t
to
say
Alito
matches
up
with
ol’
Magda,
as
much
as
a
reminder
that
anecdotes
about
private
kindnesses
don’t
make
someone
an
honest
broker.
In
some
cases,
being
nice
to
the
people
you
interact
with
directly
goes
hand
in
hand
with
being
dismissive
or
even
cruel
to
the
people
you
don’t.
It’s
ideal
to
be
nice
all
the
time,
but
given
a
choice,
I’d
rather
a
justice
run
their
clerks
through
the
Biglaw
sweatshop
wringer
and
still
believe
in
the
Fourteenth
Amendment.
Oh,
and
Alito
is
smart
too!
The
clerkship
with
Justice
Alito
was
surreal
in
many
expected
ways.
For
example,
the
justice
is
incredibly
smart.
That
is
readily
apparent
from
any
opinion
he
writes
or
oral
argument
in
which
he
grills
counsel.
So,
too,
behind
the
scenes:
On
more
than
one
occasion,
chatter
from
him
would
go
quiet,
and
then
a
flood
of
perfectly
cited
draft
opinions
would
come
streaming
in.
He
did
not
need
us.
Which,
again,
veers
from
the
original
point.
But
sometimes
you
can
learn
something
when
someone
keeps
redirecting
like
this.
Is
Aguiñaga
just
trying
to
tell
Alito
that
he
really
is
a
beautiful
and
unique
snowflake
who
shouldn’t
retire
just
because
the
haters
have
got
him
down?
It
would
explain
why
Aguiñaga
hears
“Alito
is
unhappy
at
work”
and
replies
with
“he’s
such
a
brilliant
humanitarian!”
It’s
not
about
Alito’s
mood
at
work,
it’s
about
girding
him
to
stick
it
out.
Just
spitballing
here,
but
maybe
stick
it
out
at
least
long
enough
for
Aguiñaga
to
build
a
resume
that
could
fill
that
seat?
Anyway,
this
whole
kerfuffle
is
about
Alito
being
pretty
clearly
annoyed
in
all
the
ways
detailed
in
the
Biskupic
article,
and
the
reason
why
—
for
my
money
—
was
pegged
by
Mark
Joseph
Stern
back
in
2022:
My
theory
of
the
case
is
essentially
that
they
watched
for
decades
while
the
court
was
center-right
or
moderate,
or
occasionally
handed
down
liberal
rulings,
and
the
country
largely
accepted
those
decisions.
The
legal
establishment
accepted
them.
There
was
not
a
call
generally
to
expand
the
court,
and
the
court’s
approval
ratings
remained
high.
I
think
Alito
and
Thomas
feel
like
they’ve
now
won
fair
and
square,
they’re
in
the
driver’s
seat,
they’re
issuing
all
of
the
decisions
that
they
think
are
right,
that
they
believe
are
certainly
no
more
radical
than
same-sex
marriage
or
abortion,
and
suddenly
their
approval
rating
is
plummeting.
When
the
Warren
Court
took
unpopular
stands,
the
public
more
or
less
thought
the
justices
were
taking
principled
stances.
When
Alito
reverse
engineers
an
assault
on
half
a
century
of
precedent,
the
public
more
or
less
sees
it
as
a
cynical
power
play.
The
Court’s
conservatives
thought
they’d
take
down
the
world
the
Warren
Court
built
and
be
greeted
as
liberators
—
to
borrow
from
Dick
Cheney
—
and
are
currently
learning
the
same
lesson
Cheney
did.
Maybe
he
just
needs
a
vacation.
Perhaps
some
billionaire
can
offer
him
a
luxury
trip
where
he
can
sit
back,
fly
some
flags,
and
relax.
Joe
Patrice is
a
senior
editor
at
Above
the
Law
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
Feel
free
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