14-02-2016, 12:33 AM
I won't be a hypocrite like most of the corporate media at the moment. He wasn't a great man. He was a racist right-winger, a product of the reactionary days of the authoritarian Catholic Church. Scalia thought torture might be constitutionally okay. TV opinion-makers are telling us what a "strict constitutionalist" he was. Down the memory hole goes the Court stopping the recount in the 2000 Florida race. So much for the "founders' intent." And we're hearing about "what a good man he was." Sorry, he was a bully and a loudmouth on the bench.
The right-wing bloc on the Court is now whittled down to 3: Roberts, Thomas, Alito. There are 4 liberals, and 1 moderate-conservative (Anthony Kennedy). Even if Obama doesn't get to appoint a successor - which he has every right to, with 11 months left in office - we may see Kennedy more frequently siding with the 4 liberals - especially if Scalia isn't there bullying him into line. So we may see a lot of 5-3 decisions.
The right-wing bloc on the Court is now whittled down to 3: Roberts, Thomas, Alito. There are 4 liberals, and 1 moderate-conservative (Anthony Kennedy). Even if Obama doesn't get to appoint a successor - which he has every right to, with 11 months left in office - we may see Kennedy more frequently siding with the 4 liberals - especially if Scalia isn't there bullying him into line. So we may see a lot of 5-3 decisions.