Some lady — I could never ascertain her name* — hosting on MSNBC’s “Velshi” program (“Church and State”), recently reported that Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito was “under fire” for a recording “in which he apparently endorsed the view that America needs to return to a place of ‘godliness.’” (She sneered a bit when uttering the word “godliness,” as if it made her somewhat nauseous.) She was obviously offended by such a statement from “one of the most powerful figures in the country,” a man who is “supposed to be impartial” and not openly embrace the idea of a “theocratic state.”

The video is here.

Returning to a place of “godliness” does not necessarily mean embracing a “theocratic state,” Ms. Whoeverthehellyouare. It was far more likely that Justice Alito meant returning to a time of decency, dignity, respect, and the rule of law. And perhaps acknowledgement of the Ten Commandments and the Golden Rule. You know, like not murdering others, not pooping in the street, or not trying to imprison one’s political opponents. Or are you against those “restrictions,” too? Probably.

The show's guest in the same video, whom I couldn’t pick out in a crowd of two even if the other was Rachel Maddow, then stated: “The right’s embrace of overtly Christian nationalism ideology has been on the rise, and it’s a trend that many historians and experts have named an existential threat to our democracy.” It has been anything but on the rise. Attendance at Christian churches is down significantly from just a few short years ago. Christians are openly mocked in movies, on television shows, by comedians, etc., etc.