Congressional Democrats are furious that their gambit to force conservative Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito to recuse himself from specific important cases over a media-manufactured outrage about an upside-down U.S. flag failed miserably when Alito politely refused to cave to their absurd demands.

That frustrated rage was displayed by far-left "Squad" member Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) when she couldn't help but reference Alito while attacking partisan rival Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) for posting an upside-down U.S. flag on social media, according to Fox News.

Making the incident all the more entertaining was the fact that the New York congresswoman's attempt to smear Alito in her attack against her Georgia colleague backfired spectacularly among the vast majority of those who commented on the Democratic representative's post.

The upside-down U.S. flag

For almost as long as the United States has had a national flag, it has been a commonly accepted and understood practice to fly it inverted as a symbol of national distress or protest against egregious governmental misdeeds, and there is a rich history of movements on both the right and left who have done so over the decades and centuries of the nation's existence.

The upside-down U.S. flag only just recently became controversial among Democrats after The New York Times reported a few weeks ago that the inverted emblem was spotted outside Justice Alito's Virginia home in the weeks after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot of 2021, during which some of the rioters had flown the recognizable symbol of a nation in distress.

That tenuous connection sparked angry demands from Democrats, including Rep. Ocasio-Cortez, for Alito to recuse himself specifically from two critically important Supreme Court cases -- former President Donald Trump's immunity claim and the Justice Department's overbroad use of an obstruction charge against Jan. 6 defendants and Trump -- that Alito refused to abide by in a pair of letters sent to House and Senate Democrats this past week.

At least part of the Democratic rage over Alito's recusal refusal likely stemmed from his subtle call-out of their partisan intentions underlying the calls for his removal, as he wrote, "I am confident that a reasonable person who is not motivated by political or ideological considerations or a desire to affect the outcome of Supreme Court cases would conclude that the events recounted above do not meet the applicable standard for recusal. I am therefore required to reject your request."

Ocasio-Cortez swipes at Alito in attack against Greene

On Thursday, in response to former President Trump's conviction in the overtly politically motivated criminal trial in New York on unprecedented trumped-up charges, Rep. Greene posted an image of an upside-down U.S. flag on her X account.

That post was then shared by Rep. Ocasio-Cortez, who snidely wrote in the caption, "Who did you learn that from, Samuel Alito?"

Her bitter swipe at the conservative justice and distressed Republican congresswoman didn't go over particularly well, though, as the comments to her post were full of sharp criticism, plenty of mockery, and even a few lessons on the history of the inverted flag, its long-understood meaning, and others who've prominently displayed the same symbol of national distress in the past for a variety of different reasons.

Trump heralds Alito's "guts" in defying Democratic recusal demands

Meanwhile, as Democrats decried Justice Alito's refusal to give in to their wholly partisan recusal demands, former President Trump praised Alito for standing strong in defiance of the coordinated effort to sideline and silence his voice on the Supreme Court, according to The Hill.

In a Truth Social post on Wednesday, Trump wrote, "Congratulations to United States Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito for showing the INTELLIGENCE, COURAGE, and 'GUTS' to refuse stepping aside from making a decision on anything January 6th related."

"All U.S. Judges, Justices, and Leaders should have such GRIT -- Our Country would be far more advanced than its current status as A BADLY FAILING NATION, headed by the Worst President in American History, Crooked Joe Biden!" he added.

If the Supreme Court rules in favor of Trump's immunity claim, even if only partially, that could result in significant delays or even end altogether Special Counsel Jack Smith's prosecutorial efforts against the former president. As for the obstruction charge case, a ruling against the DOJ there would likely result in the dropping of two of Smith's charges against Trump and dropped charges, early releases, reduced sentences, or even new trials for hundreds of Jan. 6 defendants.