Frequently an issue of this sort will come before the Court clad, so to speak, in sheep’s clothing: the potential of the asserted principle to effect important change in the equilibrium of power is not immediately evident, and must be discerned by a careful and perceptive analysis. But this wolf comes as a wolf.
- Morrison v. Olsen, 487 U.S. 654, 699 (1988) (dissenting).
Feeling a bit under the weather due to regular flu. I came home from the law mines at noon, and spent the afternoon watching videos of the late, great Justice Antonin Scalia. The above was the best. The greatest Supreme Court Justice in our history in my opinion, but, infinitely more important for his ultimate destination, a very good man. I hope Justice Barrett will carry on his torch.
Hope you are feeling better very soon, Don. Although I am sure you don’t mind a small break from the Law Mines. (Wink)
Thank you Cathy. My health is normally robust but I have a nasty bug right now. I am making productive use of this rare down time.
I still have a gut feeling he was wacked. I could be wrong.
Hard not to wonder if Scalia was Seth Riched or Seth Rich was Scaliaed?
He was 79 years old, overweight, and, if I’m not mistaken, diabetic. Not terribly surprising his heart gave out. People of a certain psychological type have been circulating nonsense memes for the last several years.
He was a 100 lbs overweight and had other health issues. However, conspiracies arise when there are odd coincidences: the ranch where the judge died is very remote. He had no security detail with him. Last minute his son did not accompany him. The magistrate pronounced him dead over the phone. One would think that it should have be done in person for a Chief Justice.. Know for a fact that many instructor civilian helo pilots are former police officers who moonlight flying wealthy hunters to ranches in TX and stay the weekend. Can’t say for a fact if there was a helo or plane available that weekend.
He was a 100 lbs overweight and had other health issues.
I doubt he weighed 260#.
However, conspiracies arise when there are odd coincidences:
There weren’t any odd coincidences. Some people are just bound and determined to see things that aren’t there. He quite voluntarily elected to be at that remote ranch. Some high officials avail themselves of a proffered option to have a security detail, some do not. You’re not really suggesting his son was in on it, are you? Only an odd minority of people receive a post-mortem from the local coroner and it’s going to be fewer in the sort of area where the coroner is likely a layman or at best a GP. There wasn’t anything suspicious about his death. Hundreds of thousands of elderly men die like this every year.
There are some Washington stories that are called “debunked” when it really means “collectively ignored.”
Justice Scalia’s passing was not one of these. He was not in great health, and the legal profession takes its toll. Then toss in the stresses of being a father of 9.
According to the data, the life expectancy of an American man in 2016 was 78 years, six months. All things considered, he had a remarkably long and blessed life.
and the legal profession takes its toll.
Isn’t that the sad and sorry truth Dale!
Indeed.
No, I am not saying his son was complicit in the judge’s death. That’s nonsense. Yes, Justice Scalia waived his security detail (which was stupid) and probably shouldn’t have travelled to the hunt. However Justice Scalia was known to be a very social person and to escape from the Washington swamp was appealing. What I had hoped to convey is that people draw conclusions or develop conspiracies based on poorly reported events.
The Justice’s death was a big loss. Amy C. Barrett seems to be another brilliant legal mind.
“People of a certain psychological type have been circulating nonsense memes for the last several years.” Snide and broad comment. So, for your example, President Trump who complained while a candidate that there was interference in his campaign?
No, I am not saying his son was complicit in the judge’s death. That’s nonsense. Yes, Justice Scalia waived his security detail (which was stupid) and probably shouldn’t have travelled to the hunt.
Why is it ‘stupid’ to not have a security detail? See the article in the Washington Monthly some years back on the use of security. The FBI director Louis Freeh and Donna Shalala were among those in that era who eschewed 24 hour security. Richard Nixon and his wife did without security details the last eight years of his life. Jackie Onassis had no security from 1975 until her death in 1994.
I don’t know why Mr. Justice Scalia found the prospect of hunting in West Texas appealing, but his host has a revenue-generating business, so there’s a niche market there. Your complaint is what?
What I had hoped to convey is that people draw conclusions or develop conspiracies based on poorly reported events.
It wasn’t poorly reported.
“People of a certain psychological type have been circulating nonsense memes for the last several years.” Snide and broad comment. So, for your example, President Trump who complained while a candidate that there was interference in his campaign?
The term ‘snide’ does not mean what you think it means. I have no clue what the President’s complaints about a different matter have to do with this discussion. An elderly man died of heart failure, something that happens to thousands of elderly men every day in this country. Some people’s heads work in such a way that they fancy banal events are ‘suspicious’ and some of them are suckers for inventions. One of them assured me the other day that his host was some sort of wet work professional and VietNam War criminal. Oh, and they ‘drove around aimlessly in the desert for hours’ (It’s about a 3.5 hour drive to El Paso from the ranch in question) and Scalia was ‘hastily cremated’ (the man in question evidently fancies there was an empty coffin at his funeral and that his family is complicit).