I've been thinking about the Alito flag story. It occurred to me that there may be a deeper issue.

[TomSlick]

A SCOTUS justice having a campaign sign in their yard would be taboo. Flying an insurrectionist symbol on a pole outside their house is simply stupid.

I wonder if Alito is slipping mentally and when he gets home, were his clerks can't watch him, the dementia symptoms are unchecked.

[SheilaAnn]

1. Good point. Unfortunately we'll have to watch and wait. n/t

[TomSlick]

4. True. I'm miles out of my lane playing amateur psychologist.

I worry that if he is slipping, a lot of damage can be done before he admits it to himself.

[Irish_Dem]

6. Yes but you are in a position to examine his legal rulings

to determine the cognitive slippage, my specific thoughts in comment down thread.

[ok_cpu]

2. Anything is possible

but I think it's more likely his absolute arrogance and belief that he is "supreme."

Edited to also add wouldn't surprise me that he could have been willing to support a coup and was signaling that willingness.

[yorkster]

10. Just had a thought. - Arrogancia Maximosa

was my diagnosis. He's got it, we suffer from it.

[RockRaven]

3. More like there are absolutely zero consequences that matter and he knows it.

He DGAF about taboos or norms because nobody can make him pay in a meaningful way for violating them. What are his clerks going to do? What is Roberts going to do? Absolutely nothing.

He can be as big of an asshole as he likes, and everyone just has to deal with it. And he's a huge fucking asshole.

[Irish_Dem]

5. Interesting thought.

Do we have any other data to support this?

In his recent court rantings, I mean rulings, do you see any signs of cognitive slippage
in his thought process or critical thinking skills? Or poor judgement from a legal standpoint?

I agree, in the office his clerks can cover for him.

It is also possible the wife has dementia.

I agree at their level of power and prestige it was stupid to do what they did.

But then again the MAGAs are entitled and privileged.

I have noticed that both Alito and Thomas seem to be somewhat paranoid and quite angry.
And it was stupid of Thomas to go around saying everyone is lying about him
when he has been caught red handed accepting bribes.

[TomSlick]

11. I disagree fundamentally with most of his opinions but that isn't your question.

Written appellate decisions are not a useful diagnostic tool for the simple reason that Alito would not actually write the opinions. The clerks write the opinions. At best, Alito would give his clerks a broad outline and then edit the drafts. Loyal clerks would have a lot of opportunity to protect Alito from himself.

Paranoia and inappropriate anger as diagnostic signs or symptoms is your lane, not mine. However, from my layman's view point, both are apparent.

Everyone has bad days and does stupid things. However, the flag nonsense was just so over the top as to suggest something has gone bad in the wiring.

[Irish_Dem]

12. Yes you are right about the written material.

If he did not actually write the rulings, there is no diagnostic value.

But Tom what about his verbal comments?
Do you see signs of impairment along the lines I suggested previously?
Critical thinking skills, logic, memory, obvious mistakes?
Confusion.

Is he able to make comments without reading off of prepared text?

Yes I am not talking about a difference of opinion.

Yes the paranoid flavor of Thomas and Alito latest rants are obvious.
And anger.

I just saw a Steve Schmidt video, he helped prep Alito for his confirmation hearing.
Steve says Alito is still angry about the grilling he got. If you are trying to get a permannet
lifetime job, Steve says you need to expect being raked over the coals.

So Alito is immature, thin skinned and not very sophisticated.
And angry, wanting revenge and to pay back any one who bothers him.
We also see Alito's high need for control of others.
It fits that he was angry because he could not control his neighbor and the yard sign.
So he acted out with the upside down flag.

So he would not have to have dementia to fly the flag upside down.
It could be his personality traits in full view.

That said, it is possible to have both things going on.
Disturbed personality and a dementia.
Then it gets really crazy.

[TomSlick]

14. I have a hard time being impartial in my evaluation of Alito's comments over the years.

I sincerely dislike the man and all he stands for. I think him an arrogant man convinced of his superiority over others.

The flag incident is different. It is so over the top and simply nuts, that even to a non-mental health expert, "the boy just ain't right."

[Irish_Dem]

16. I could argue the flag event is not that different from his other behavior.

We see him being partisan, petty, and mean minded in his rulings.
With an obvious high need for control.

Wiping out basic rights for women without blinking.
Considering giving a ruthless sociopath ex-president immunity.

We have considered his clerks covering up a dementia.
Maybe they have been covering up what an absolute SOB jackass he is on a daily basis.
Maybe the flag situation shows us the real Alito.

Steve Schmidt was hinting that this is the case.
Alito has always been like this.
We just didn't realize how bad it was.
That he has always been crazy.

And as he ages it gets a bit worse.

So yes you are right, something is very wrong with this guy.
But it is probably nothing new.
Just gets a bit more ridiculous as he ages.

[TomSlick]

17. Having lived with my parents' aging,

I have concluded that dementia does not change a person's character, only magnifies it. The mean or distasteful bits seen only occasionally over the years, come to the fore.

[Irish_Dem]

18. Yes, we tend to go to our worst pieces as we age.

The frontal lobe and other parts of the brain which regulate social behavior and
adherence to social norms is no longer working.

Our filter and self regulation disappears.

Steve Schmidt knows Alito well and is indirectly saying that Alito was
never a good, kind, decent man who suddenly went off the deep end.

So this means that Alito is going to get worse, if your gut is right that we
are looking at some sort of dementia, and I think it is on top of an already nasty
personalty. So be prepared for anything in his rulings.

[sop]

7. I think the RW justices understand they can do whatever they want with impunity. Who's going to stop them?

[agingdem]

8. I don't think so...

I think four years of Trump in the White House gave Alito the green light to "come out" as the anti-democratic/anti-women/anti-inclusive/anti-equal opportunity/anti-affirmative action/anti-middle class self righteous self-serving theocratic racist asshole we always knew Alito to be...

[Think. Again.]

9. No, I think the attempts to justify evil, traitorous behavior...

...by pretending trump, or alito, or anyone else, might be helplessly ill are simply that, excuses to let them get away with being criminals, traitors, and all-around bad human beings.

[TomSlick]

21. My question is not an attempt to excuse.

I am questioning Alito's fitness to be on the bench.

[Think. Again.]

24. It's his complete lack of moral integrity that disqualifies him...

...not his mental health.

[Model35mech]

13. Alito was just testing the water with a MAGA virtue signal.

It's no secret he's one of the most authoritarian loving, strong man loving justices in modern history.

But he felt the NEED TO TEST THE WATER, there is SO MUCH that he wants to try to do, and most of it is far far out of the mainstream of American political norms

[JI7]

15. He is just a right wing piece if shit

[Ping Tung]

19. Abuse of the flag.

[Hekate]

20. No excuses. He's just evil, arrogant, theocratic, petty, grudge-holding, anti-Constitutional...

What kind of a US Judge would quote a Christian saint from the 12th century and a British jurist from the 16th century, especially one who sat in judgement on witch-trials? All this while writing the Dobbs decision that took away the fundamental bodily rights of 1/2 the population?

If you want to see something that will really give you pause, go here and listen to Steve Schmidt, who knows Alito.
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100218958483

[TomSlick]

23. I'm not offering an excuse.

I'm questioning Alto's fitness to be on the bench.

[Hekate]

26. He's entirely unfit

[H2O Man]

22. Doubt it.

He's always been an asshole.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

25. He knows there are no consequences. He can do anything he wants. Arrogance.