Justice Samuel Alito's Confirmation Speech and the USA's Forgotten Values

Samuel Alito

One must be careful what one says. Oh, wait, never mind, for public officials are rarely held to account. That is because much of American government, the protection of our liberties, depends as much on our cultural values as on the Constitution’s written text. 

In his opening statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee on January 9, 2006, Judge Samuel Alito reiterated a basic legal principle every school child in the United States of America has heard:

“No person in this country, no matter how high or powerful, is above the law, and no person in—in this country is beneath the law.”

Judge Alito obviously needed to say that; otherwise, no one would have voted to confirm him to the Supreme Court. Sadly, that principle appears nowhere in the Constitution of the United States; its power depends entirely on whether we, as a people, believe it. 

Eighteen years later, securely in power, holder of a lifetime appointment, Alito who voted for the majority opinion in Trump v. United States. In that case, President Donald Trump protested that he should be immune from criminal charges. As they resolved that case, the six conservative judges all voted to provide the president of the United States with absolute immunity when conducting his or her constitutional powers, a degree of immunity (“presumptive immunity”) for other official acts, and no immunity for private actions.

The more conservative judges disagreed a bit about the extent of the presidential immunity that they invented, while the more liberal Justice Sotomayor argued that the court’s decision created a “law-free zone around the President.” That “law-free zone” places one person – the President of the United States – above the law – at least some of the time.

Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer Reminded Us That the United States Is an Experiment

No doubt, many people believe that the president does require legal protection against harassing criminal charges.  Criminal charges might, they think, distract the president from his duties.  Nevertheless, we have the principle that I learned in high school, and which Judge Alito affirmed during his confirmation speech: “No person in this country, no matter how high or powerful, is above the law.” Regardless of the decision’s debatable merits, the decision to offer any kind of presidential immunity crushes that great moral principle to dust.

Judge Alito’s 2006 speech presaged the danger of living in a nation’s whose cultural norms slowly crumble, step-by-step, as an apathetic nation worries about the price of gasoline or the supply of eggs in the grocery store’s dairy section. It is one thing for public figures to pledge to follow our ideals of liberty, freedom, and equality. Those ideals mean nothing unless government officials are, at the least, held open to massive public shame when they destroy our most precious values. Unfortunately, the nation seems to have forgotten what Judge Alito affirmed so many years ago, and never held either him, or his colleagues, to account.

To understand the present, we must remember the past.

by William D. Harpine

Copyright ©2026 by William D. Harpine

Image: United States Supreme Court, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

George W. Bush's Speech at VMI: Peace through Wisdom

George W. Bush at VMI

“After 1945, said United States President George W. Bush, “the United States of America was the only nation in the world strong enough to help rebuild a Europe and a Japan that had been decimated by World War II. Today, our former enemies are our friends.” 

Can we once again make our enemies into our friends?

Bush, the United States’ architect of the War on Terror, reminded the cadets at the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) on April 17, 2002, that military force alone never brings security. No, security requires justice, compassion, and forgiveness. Commemorative speeches like this rarely lay out exact policies; instead, rising to a higher level, the speaker declares the values from which wise policies must arise. Bush’s theme was not peace through strength, but peace through strength working hand-in-hand with wisdom. Have we, today, forgotten that lesson?

Bush warned that terrorists are terrifying enemies. His speech reviewed the horrors of “massacres committed by the Taliban last year, victims who lie in mass graves.” He told the cadets that “we are called to defend freedom against ruthless enemies.” Bush also discussed the ongoing efforts to free Yemen from terrorists and to protect the Philippines’ elected government from militant terrorists. Those were ambitious goals. Furthermore, unlike the United States’ current leaders, Bush cautioned that the War on Terror could never be short, that victory would never be simple:

“Yet, it's important for Americans to know this war will not be quick and this war will not be easy.”

VMI's Barracks

Nevertheless, Bush’s key argument addressed questions of value, not nuts and bolts policy. He explained that wise policies could not arise from military force alone, but only if guided by justice, dignity, individual rights, and tolerance:

“The way to a peaceful future can be found in the non-negotiable demands of human dignity. Dignity requires the rule of law, limits on the power of the state, respect for women, private property, equal justice, religious tolerance. No nation owns these principles. No nation is exempt from them.”

Is it not remarkable that Bush insisted on universal values: “No nation owns … No nation is exempt?”

Perhaps this remarkable speech bridged the gap between policy (deliberative) and ceremonial (epideictic) speaking. Bush laid out the threat that international terrorism poses to the world, thus engaging in Step One of a problem-solution policy speech. Instead, however, of laying out specific policies, he turned the cadets’ attention toward moral values. Maybe he was implying that moral values are the problem’s only solution.

George W. Bush's 9/11 Oval Office Speech: Values versus Reality?

George W. Bush on 9/11: A Message of Unity

Although his VMI speech detailed few specific anti-terrorist policies, the particular policies that Bush did pursue were controversial at the time and remain disputed today. I for one, was never a fan, and, here in 2026, justice in western Asia remains inconsistent and elusive. One must, however, admire Bush’s forthright stand that only strong moral values create security, and that all nations, the United States and its enemies alike, need to follow them. 

Let us hope and pray that humanity’s common bonds can restore themselves. Let us hope that the United States can, as we did after World War II, make our enemies into our friends. Can we resist terrorism with force, but also participate in justice and reconciliation with our enemies? Bush argued that only when we reaffirm our values, only when we are moved by justice, rather than fear, can we move toward specific actions. A strong foreign policy does not need to degenerate into mindless vengeance. The more we seek universal, uplifting values, the more we seek wisdom, the more we, as human beings, can contribute to peace on our troubled globe. 

George W. Bush and the American Vision

by William D. Harpine

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Personal Note: I have often visited both VMI’s stark campus and its neighbor, Washington and Lee University. Indeed, in my youth, I considered applying to Washington and Lee before choosing a different school. Lexington, Virginia stands among the nation’s most charming towns. Both schools uphold high standards, produce outstanding leaders, and contribute to the state’s culture. During my long-ago career as a College of William and Mary debater, our team often vied with superb debaters from both schools. 

For more of my posts about ceremonial or epideictic speaking, click this link. 

My continuing thanks to AmericanRhetoric.com, founded by my late classmate and editor Martin Medhurst. That invaluable website has preserved countless speech texts and, often, videos. 

Copyright ©2026 by William D. Harpine

Image of George W. Bush speaking at the Virginia Military Institute, 
official White House photo by Tina Hager, public domain

Image of Virginia Military Institute’s barracks,
Historic American Buildings Survey, National Park Service, 
via Wikimedia Commons, public domain