Secretly recorded conversations with Justice Alito and his wife tell us mostly that the justice worries about polarization and his wife handles the flags.

One of the hallmarks of the now–annual silly–season efforts to discredit and delegitimize the Supreme Court is that the hit jobs are aimed to make up in volume what they lack in content. So long as there is a constant drumbeat of new stories, the narrative can be kept alive even as one story after another crumbles.

So here we go again: this time from that noted paragon of accuracy in journalism, Rolling Stone. The story, by Tessa Stuart and Tim Dickinson, is titled “Justice Alito Caught on Tape Discussing How Battle for America ‘Can’t Be Compromised.’” Lauren Windsor, described by Rolling Stone as “a liberal documentary filmmaker,” decided to ambush Justice Samuel Alito, his wife, and Chief Justice John Roberts at a cocktail party two years in a row and secretly record their conversations. In order to try to goad her targets, Windsor attempted to pass herself off as a religious conservative.