Groveling for a Job

Samuel Alito's statements that he was "particularly proud'' of contributing to cases arguing "that racial and ethnic quotas should not be allowed and that the Constitution does not protect a right to an abortion" in a letter asking for a job promotion in the Reagan DOJ reveal not only his personal philosophy, if not judicial theory, on affirmative action and a woman's right to choose, but also the degree to which he was: 1. proudly and thoroughly committed to the Reagan administration's conservative agenda; and/or 2. willing to suck up to people in the administration in order to climb the career ladder. It is worth noting that this is not a letter written by a 25-year-old recently graduated average law student desperately trying to convince a skeptical employer of his merits. Rather, it is written by a 35-year-old former editor of the Yale Law Journal who has been working for the SG for almost five years.

Also interesting is Alito's apparent feeling that YLJ was a liability to his conservative credentials. He explains his decision to attend Yale by citing the writings of conservative constitutionalist and YLS professor Alexander Bickel .

The letter is an insightful window into the views and personality of this nominee. Reading it should only help confirm liberals' worst fears - I highly recommend it.