Alito

I've refrained from forming any solid opinions on the nomination of Judge Samuel Alito, Jr. to the Supreme Court until I was able to learn more about his views and judicial philosophy and temperment.

For all of you keeping score, a memo was recently released where Alito claimed 20 years ago that "the Constitution does not protect a right to abortion." To give background, Alito wrote this memo in 1985 when was in the process of applying for a job with the Justice Department under the Reagan Administration. Part of the job application was a Personal Qualifications Statement, where he wrote the following:

I am and always have been a conservative and an adherent to the same philisophical views that I believe are central to this administration. ... I am particularly proud of my contributions in recent cases in which the government has argued in the Supreme Court that racial and ethnic quotas should not be allowed and that the Constitution does not protect a right to abortion.

Today, Alito has, not surprisingly, backed away from the memo. He recently had a meeting with Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), and she quotes him as saying about the memo, "It was different then. I was an advocate seeking a job. It was a political job."

Politics and ideology aside, here's my question: was Alito lying just to get this job?