Paid commercials on radio and television are bad enough when they try to sell, or skewer, political candidates. Since they’re too short and too shrill to convey useful information, they usually play to base emotion instead of reasoned intellect.

But campaign-style ads are a truly dreadful device when it comes to promoting or opposing a Supreme Court nominee. And independent groups on both sides of the confirmation battle involving Judge Samuel Alito seem intent on proving how distorting and disturbing these commercials can be.