The New York Times reports on the thank you note sent by newly-confirmed Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito to Focus on the Family head James Dobson, expressing his gratitude to Dobson for mobilizing his millions of listeners to support the Alito nomination. A line from Alito’s letter, describing the “trust that has been placed in me” by the supporters who’d prayed for his confirmation, and his hopes to live up to that trust, has prompted criticism that Alito is acknowledging a debt to the Christian Right. The criticism led to an official response from Supreme Court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg, who wrote off the sentence as a form-letter sentiment of thanks. Though Dobson told The NY Times that any suggestion that Alito was pledging anti-abortion votes on upcoming cases was ridiculous speculation, in his radio address yesterday, Dobson read the letter to his audience and added that, “‘We do not yet know how these men will vote, but every indication is that they get it, they understand.'”