Dance, puppet, dance

The newest Supreme Court justice, Sam Alito, is already revealing who pulls his strings.

After his confirmation to the court, Alito sent a thank you note to James Dobson, one of the slimiest of the Christian evangelicals - and that's saying something with that bunch of snakes - for the outpouring of support that the Christian right showed for his nomination.

The note to Dobson included a vow from Alito that, "As long as I serve on the Supreme Court, I will keep in mind the trust that has been placed in me," and adding, "I would also greatly appreciate it if you would convey my appreciation to the good people from all parts of the country who wrote to tell me that they were praying for me and for my family."

A legal expert told The Times the note's wording was surprisingly ambiguous for a letter from a Supreme Court justice

"It is inartful, it is clumsy, it is a poor choice of language, it is unfortunate, but I think we have to give Justice Alito the benefit of the doubt," NYU Professor Stephen Gillers said.

No we don't.

And it's not a poor choice of words either. Alito knew exactly what signals he was sending.