Alito Bit Scared?

I respect the pro-life position. As a matter of fact, I'm not even sure where I fall on the spectrum of beliefs about abortion. Keep it legal, I think, but more to avoid the dangerous alternatives.

In any event, we sure hear a lot from the right wing about overturning Roe v. Wade. That is until the issue is put squarely on the table. Now, they've got a statement from Alito that he is vehemently against Roe, but rather than crow about it, right wing folks seem to be explaining it away.

Dahlia Lithwick absolutely nails it.

Might it be that your calls for this big old national bull session over activist judging are as cynical and results-based as the holding in Roe that you so revile? Could it be that the national polls—which indicate robust support for Roe and strong opposition to justices who'd reverse it—have rendered this conversation too dangerous? Or is it the prospect of the national backlash that would follow from actually reversing Roe that has rendered you speechless? Aren't you eager, finally, to defend the GOP platform, which overtly promises that the president will appoint judges who will defend the "sanctity of life" and overturn Roe? Or are your notions of scrupulous judicial purity less compelling in the cold light of political reality?