Judge Alito understands the "living Constitution"

The Left likes to bandy about a "living Constitution" idea to encourage judicial Legislation. Under this doctrine, the Constitution means whatever a liberal judge says it means. Alito, however, understands precisely what it means that the Constitution is still a vital part of our entire legal and political infrastructure:

The liberty component of the Fifth Amendment and the 14th Amendment, which I was talking about earlier, embody the deeply-rooted traditions of a country. And it's up to each -- those traditions and those rights apply to new factual situations that come up. As times change, new factual situations come up, and the principles have to be applied to those situations. The principles don't change. The Constitution itself doesn't change. But the factual situations change. And, as new situations come up, the principles and the rights have to be applied to them.

For that intellectual clarity alone, he serves a seat on the Supremes.