Alito vs. Obama: Opposing Views

Justice Samuel Alito's critical reaction during last night's State of the Union speech is still making waves:

• Shannen Coffin, National Review: "That Justice Alito betrayed his feelings in a minor way is understandable. ... In his preening, Obama flatly misrepresented the ruling" and showed an "utter lack of tact."
• Glenn Greenwald, Salon: The judge made "a serious and substantive breach of protocol that reflects very poorly on Alito and only further undermines the credibility of the court. It has nothing to do with etiquette. ... (The court) must remain apolitical, separate, and detached from partisan wars."

• Sarah Palin, Fox News: Obama is "embarrassing our Supreme Court and not respecting the separation of powers. ... I think that this is going to be a huge take-away moment."
• Doug Kendall, Huffington Post: If Alito feels this way, he should have written a concurring opinion and explained how the ruling "doesn't change course on over a century of campaign finance law ... and showed us that the court's formalistic approach to the First Amendment and corporations won't lead to foreign corporate spending in US elections. But muttering at the State of the Union clarifies nothing."

(More Samuel A. Alito stories.)