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You are here: Home / Absent Friends / RIP / Justice Antonin Scalia Is Dead

Justice Antonin Scalia Is Dead

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Per MySanAntonio:

Associate Justice Antonin Scalia was found dead of apparent natural causes Saturday on a luxury resort in West Texas, federal officials said.

Scalia, 79, was a guest at the Cibolo Creek Ranch, a resort in the Big Bend region south of Marfa.

According to a report, Scalia arrived at the ranch on Friday and attended a private party with about 40 people. When he did not appear for breakfast, a person associated with the ranch went to his room and found a body…

I’m sad for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who considered him a friend.

Is it possible for President Obama to nominate Joe Biden as Scalia’s replacement? Yeah, I don’t think Joe wants the job either, but watching him Bugs-Bunny the GOP Fuds for the next nine months would be highly entertaining.

Second-best #outoffuckstogive candidate: Professor Anita Hill (whose nomination might have the salutatory side effect of killing Clarence Thomas, or at least causing him to resign before the spotlight caught him… because I know there’s a lot of voters under the age of 30 who don’t remember just how horribly Thomas and his defenders behaved back in 1991).

Reader Interactions

89Comments

  3. 3.

    Nemo_N

    If any nominee is gonna get stonewalled, might as well go all out. It’s never a good time to be kind to psychopaths, but moreso now.

  4. 4.

    Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.)

    All I hope is that the president chooses somebody who isn’t already a judge. Maybe somebody who isn’t even a lawyer. I don’t know how long it’s been since there’s been anybody but judges on the Court. William O. Douglas is the last I know if, though my guess would be that there have been a few who weren’t judges since then. It would be good to have another outlook up there behind that big desk, or dais, or whatever it’s called.

  5. 5.

    Nate Dawg

    Haven’t had a Democratic majority on court for 44 years. This is the moment. This is how a revolution can actually occur here.

  7. 7.

    Corner Stone

    @Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.):

    All I hope is that the president chooses somebody who isn’t already a judge. Maybe somebody who isn’t even a lawyer.

    They are going to stonewall any nominee. Why would Obama be so silly ass as to put forth someone they could legitimately bash and not allow a vote? The public, as collectively dumb as we are, would be like, “whuh? not even a judge? wtf?”

  8. 8.

    Trentrunner

    Do not underestimate how much this will galvanize the right. Just watch all the handjobs the GOP candidates will be giving the barely stiff corpse of Scalia.

    So we need to be galvanized by this as well. Let’s hope Obama plays it that way.

    And, BTW, I’m fucking sick of David Fucking Gergen tone-trolling the world by urging people to be “respectful” of “protocol” and not get political. What an asshole.

  10. 10.

    Garbo

    Can the Senate stonewall the confirmation process all the way to Nov? Well, obv they can, but is that likely?

  11. 11.

    bluehill

    As if it wasn’t enough that this is an election year, now we could/will have a supreme court nomination too. Ted Cruz is on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Fun times.

  13. 13.

    Keith G

    Hooray for Texas.

    An old quote: “You can go to hell. I am going to Texas”

    Well Justice Scalia, you have done both.

  14. 14.

    TheMightyTrowel

    Why not nominate Eric Holder? He’d be my fuck Scalia, fuck the racists, change the world choice.

  15. 15.

    TooManyJens

    I’m going to be calling my Senators on Monday to remind them that stalling on confirming SCOTUS nominees for a year just because some people are hoping to get a GOP president is unacceptable. Granted, Dick Durbin already knows this, but Mark Kirk could probably use a reminder. I invite everyone to do the same. Their base will make a stink if they don’t stall the nomination, so we need to make a stink before they even try.

  16. 16.

    Ultraviolet Thunder

    Scalia was 79, my dad’s age. Dad’s spending a lot of time at the hospital where my stepmother is recovering slowly from a stroke. We noticed it’s the same hospital room where our mother died on August 3rd this year. Totally a fluke. Really hoping that escaped dad’s notice.

  17. 17.

    Trentrunner

    Obama will nominate someone very safe, who’s already passed a GOP Senate vote, so that when that GOP Senate stonewalls, it will help galvanize for Dem retaking of the Senate.

  18. 18.

    Kansi

    @Nate Dawg: Was surprised to hear GOP appointed justices were the majority since 1972. I’m sure the right considers this the natural order of things. Will be tough to change, but revolution is never easy.

  19. 19.

    Corner Stone

    @bluehill:

    Ted Cruz is on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Fun times.

    The good news is that his colleagues on that committee hate Ted’s guts. The bad news is they are scared to death of their state voters.

  21. 21.

    Ruckus

    @Garbo:
    Little Teddie is already saying we have to wait for the next pres to make the nomination.
    IOW yes it is highly likely.

  24. 24.

    Keith G

    @Garbo: Yes they will. Conservatives are already saying that is is proper to wait until after the next election so that the entire electorate can weigh in on this most important decision.

  25. 25.

    Betty Cracker

    Judge Sri Srinivasan. Already unanimously approved by the Senate for the DC Court of Appeals. If PBO puts him forward, the Repubs will have no excuse but politics for refusing to allow a vote.

  30. 30.

    Ultraviolet Thunder

    @Corner Stone:

    The good news is that his colleagues on that committee hate Ted’s guts. The bad news is they are scared to death of their state voters.

    So the Senate will do nothing, because that’s their default position and why change now.
    Maybe it will become glaringly obvious to more people just how hard the GOP has been working to make sure Obama can’t get a damn thing accomplished.

  31. 31.

    raven

    Brian Williams is commenting on what horseshit it is for Cruz to be pronouncing that Obama should not nominate anyone. He also is noting Obama will be too classy to start this shit when big Tony ain’t in the ground yet.

  37. 37.

    Kay

    @Betty Cracker:

    If PBO puts him forward, the Repubs will have no excuse but politics for refusing to allow a vote.

    I don’t know though, because their base will go absolutely insane if they confirm anyone. Every time we think Republicans will consider their standing in the broader electorate rather than their base they go with their base.

    They fear punishment more than they seek praise :)

  38. 38.

    ? Martin

    @raven: Obama will wait until the funeral then put a name forward. McConnell will push to have Scalia lie in state for an appropriate period of time – 11 months, 7 days.

  39. 39.

    Baud

    Thanks to Obama and Bill Clinton, the appeals courts are now mostly Dem. An extended 4-4 split will give them more power.

  40. 40.

    Betty Cracker

    @Trentrunner: It’s gotta be so simple even the most obtuse low-info voter can see it: The Senate just unanimously approved this fine Indian-American jurist to one of the most influential courts in America, and now they’re trying to run out the clock, hobbling our most important court for their own nefarious ends!

    I see media org graphics: SCOTUS HELD HOSTAGE — DAY 22! If those fuckers are going to deny the twice-elected president his right to appoint a Supreme Court Justice, by God make them pay an enormous political price for it.

  41. 41.

    Nate Dawg

    Morning Dope talking about NRA lobbying like hell to stall the process because 2nd Amendment Heller was 5-4.

    And all I’m thinking is there is a chance in my lifetime I can live in a society without constant fear of guns going off. Even a chance that happens, and I’m ecstatic

  44. 44.

    cmorenc

    It’s an unseemly sentiment, when but my wife turned on the car radio this afternoon to NPR news, and their legal commentator was speaking of Justice Scalia in the past tense…I had to suppress the urge to start cheering that we were free of this asshole sociopath.

  47. 47.

    Betty Cracker

    @Kay: Good point. They may ultimately run out the clock. But the Democrats should make sure they pay dearly for it in the court of public opinion. They CAN’T afford to act like this state of affairs is normal.

  48. 48.

    ? Martin

    @Kay:

    I don’t know though, because their base will go absolutely insane if they confirm anyone.

    Their base isn’t large enough to win the election. It’s not even half as large as that. We’re currently in the middle of a nomination process that is entirely about disaffected voters (eg. not the base). Naked partisanship doesn’t serve the GOP at this time.

  49. 49.

    Tom Q

    This is truly extraordinary news. Unless the GOP wins the November presidential election, a long era of right-wing dominance of the Court is over. I presume (like most) the Pubs will play keep away all year rather than let Obama get a replacement confirmed, but, with most lower courts already non-conservative-dominated, and with 4-4 rulings upholding the lower court judgments, the worst damage the right-wing judiciary can inflict is a thing of the past.

    Again, barring GOP victory in November. People always try to persuade lukewarm partisans to vote by bringing up the Supreme Court, but this is one time it’ll be as close to literally on the ballot as possible.

  50. 50.

    bystander

    If I were President Obama, the toughest part ahead would be keeping a straight face while discussing Scalia’s demise.

  53. 53.

    hueyplong

    Republicans will under no circumstances confirm any appointee. “Elections have consequences” only applies when they win. If they lose, you have to look to the next election as the one that will have consequences.

    What truly matters about today’s news is the shift from 5-4 to 4-4. That and the shift from Scalia to Alito with regard to who casts Clarence Thomas’ vote.

  54. 54.

    JasonF

    @Trentrunner: I agree. Denny Chin or Ojetta Rogerie Thompson, for example, were both nominated to the Court of Appeals by Obama in 2009 and confirmed 98-0 (Chin had previously served in the District Court for 15 years or so, and Rogeriee Thompson had served in the Rhode Island state courts for a similar period of time. It doesn’t hurt that neither of them is white and Rogerie Thompson is a woman.

    Both have a few decisions that will enable the Repubs to throw red meat (Rogeriee Thompson wrote a 2-1 opinion holding that denying gender reassignment surgery to an inmate violates the cruel and unusual punishment clause, for example, and Chin dealt defeats to Fox News — in a suit against Al Franken, no less — and the Parents’ Television Council). Which would polarize the electorate, and remind Democrats that this isn’t abstract, it’s real.

    They’re both in their mid-60s — a little older than I’m sure the president would like — but to be fair, i doubt anybody will be confirmed anyway.

  55. 55.

    Keith G

    Wait a minute…It is possible that Scalia died before midnight, putting his shuffling off this mortal coil on Darwin Day.

  60. 60.

    lgerard

    The first chain email claiming that Obama had him killed for thwarting his climate plan arriving in 3…2…1

  62. 62.

    Kay

    @? Martin:

    We’re currently in the middle of a nomination process that is entirely about disaffected voters (eg. not the base). Naked partisanship doesn’t serve the GOP at this time.

    You should tell them Martin, because I’ve been listening to their primary and it is an insane run to the Right. Marco Rubio, the “establishment lane” candidate, says over and over (and over) that President Obama deliberately set out to destroy America.

  66. 66.

    Anne Laurie

    @Mothra:

    There’s a good bit of irony in your suggesting Biden, and then Anita Hill.

    Actually, I deleted a sentence about how Joe’s worked hard to atone for his behavior towards Ms. Hill back then. It wasn’t his best hour, for sure.

  69. 69.

    WaterGirl

    @RedKitten: I was just thinking about you today, RedKitten! How nice to see you here, even if it’s for a thread like this. See, even online sometimes you only see people for weddings and “funerals”.

  70. 70.

    Isobel

    @Anne Laurie: Thanks for including that info here. It’s useful for us youngs to know who all was involved in that mess. I remember the Anita Hill debacle, but was too young to understand all the major players.

  71. 71.

    ellennelle

    most notably of those thomas defenders, in my mind – one david brock.

    who seems to be resurrecting his old GOP smear skills as owner and manipulator of more than one HRC pac.

  75. 75.

    wenchacha

    Heh. NOW is the time for POTUS to appoint Hillary to the Supremes. Or Bernie.

    Orrin Hatch is such a silly idea, Sen. Huckleberry.

    This was alluded to somewhat, but please tell me that someone in the White House has gamed this particular scenario out ten ways ’til Sunday.

  78. 78.

    eldorado

    it’s very unlikely obama will get a justice confirmed, but the good news is scalia, like briebart, is an ex-parrot.

  80. 80.

    Mai.naem.mobile

    @trollhattan: No. Hell no. Shes a republican. Nominated by Deukmajian,Wilson and Schwarzenegger to her various positions. I’ll take Sri Srinivasan thank you very much.

  82. 82.

    Mai.naem.mobile

    @Betty Cracker: I’m guessing Srinivasan will be turned into a kafiyeh wearing, sharia law supporting,terrahrist loving musleem with multiple wives by FOX Nooz real quick. Hes got the skin tone for that crappola.

  83. 83.

    TriassicSands

    I’m sad for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who considered him a friend.

    Honestly, I’m sorry that RBG considered Scalia a friend. Scalia was such a wretched human being in so many ways that I’ve always felt that Ginsberg’s considering him a friend was a sign of a character defect in her — the willingness to look beyond basic moral principles because someone can be a “pleasant companion.” It’s something the Ultimate Haves can afford to do.

  87. 87.

    Groucho48

    Obama can threaten to make a recess appointment of, say, Al Sharpton, if the Senate drags its feet too much. And, the fact that a lot of cases coming to the SC will end up going the liberal way with 4-4 ties gives the less ideological Republicans a bit of an argument to allow a nominee to get a vote.

  88. 88.

    Cermet

    Damn (in a good way!), because I just read that the vile, ass wipe rotting carcass of Scalia (finally!) has occurred. The monster is dead (I do not have TV, cable or internet at home.) It is now an EXTREMELY GOOD day for all Amerikans! I will celebrate today as a day for liberty, and justice having a chance to be re-established once our brilliant President selects a new nominee for .inferior court that may finally become the Supreme court again.

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