It seems as though Justice Samuel Alito’s recent hiring is causing a bit of a stir. Justice Alito hired one of his former clerks, Adam G. Ciongoli to take a clerking position. What is causing the stir amongst some in the blogosphere is the connections Mr. Ciongoli has to the Federalist Society.

So what?

It personally irritates your humble pundit to a certain degree to hear the caterwauling some are making about this ‘connection’ as if this highly reputable organization is somehow evil or worthy of scorn. What has been somewhat amusing to watch over the course of the nominations of Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito is the aura of suspicion some have foisted upon the Federalist Society. The utterance of the name has nearly reached the echelons of “Halliburton” and “Enron” as a liberal mantra or rallying cry. Most individuals outside the legal community, and some within the community, do not have the foggiest idea what principles and tenets are held by this organization. Yet, with the way in which it has been demonized demonstrates that it does not matter in the least what is held in high regard by this organization.

I invite my readers to take a look for themselves to judge whether the Federalist Society is the legal antithesis of the American Civil Liberties Union. Let us not forget the perpetual controversy that shrouds this organization. From an objective standpoint, one could assume that the ACLU has an agenda that leans heavily to the left. All of this being said just to remind those that may have forgotten that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg held a substantive position within the ACLU before ascending to the Court.

Why not the same contempt for her ‘connection’ to an arm of the left-wing? Yet, again, just another example of the fundamentally different standards expected between conflicting ideologies.