The Alito testimony you won't hear

In the era of the search engine, no good (or bad) deed goes unpunished. Then again, perhaps I should take pride in being ridiculed by a U.S. senator, John Cornyn (R-Texas). "It seems like a little bit of desperation to call a witness whose only apparent expertise is in comparing meat-eaters to those who stood by during the Holocaust," a Cornyn spokesman said. The Washington Times led with, "A free-lance reporter who compared the Holocaust to eating meat.... " A right-wing blog gloated, "Latest Dem charge: Alito's a carnivore." I haven't found an account from the right that mentioned Isaac or his quote.

As it turned out, hundreds of decent, honorable Holocaust victims and their families were deeply disturbed by the original essay, and I have apologized publicly for it -- an apology I reiterate here. Sometimes using an extreme example to make a point is a bad idea. Sometimes a quote really doesn't belong in a new context. Too bad my latest attackers don't get it.

Bill Bradley (Princeton, class of 1965), future Democratic senator, quit CAP in disgust within a year after it was founded in 1972. Bill Frist (class of '74), future Republican Senate majority leader, publicly censured the organization. But CAP survived to become more anti-woman and anti-minority. In 1984, a year before Alito proudly proclaimed his membership, CAP's magazine had published details of an underage female student's sex life and named her, allegedly by mistake. A few issues before that, in a piece about blacks and Latinos, the magazine editorialized: "People nowadays just don't seem to know their place."

In response to questions about CAP, Alito has proclaimed his fealty to American principles of equality. But when he had a chance to make a real statement, back when CAP was spreading its poison, he boasted of being a member.

That's the story that should have gotten its 15 minutes this week. But you won't hear about it from me.