Too Soon?

It Couldn’t Have Happened To A Nastier Guy

Big Bend, Texas

February 14, 2016

I acknowledge and fully agree that the passing of a fellow human being should be greeted with sadness and kind words. On this day I will have to leave that to others. My sadness at the loss of a human life cannot hold a candle to the lovely thought of never again having to write about the horrible words and deeds of one Antonin Scalia.

Scalia, say it loud and it’s sirens blaring.
Say it soft and it’s almost like swearing.
Scalia, we just lost that douchebag Scalia.

From the unprecedented and disastrous Bush v. Gore decision to stop counting votes in the presidential election of 2000 to the deadly 2008 Heller v. District of Columbia decision to ignore the first half of the Second Amendment, to the merely disastrous 2010 Citizens United v. FEC decision to ensure that money overpowered the individual in our electoral process, to last week’s supremely unprecedented and despicable interference with the Obama administration’s efforts to protect the environment, Scalia’s mark (i.e., stain) will be on this nation for many years to come. Many knew him as a brilliant jurist. Being brilliant does not however excuse so much of Scalia’s unseemly behavior or injurious judicial record.
 
The self-proclaimed guardian of the original intent of all our founding fathers. He and he alone knows the very thoughts of the framers of the Constitution even though they could barely agree with themselves let alone each other on so many issues and occasions. For example, Scalia knew that, despite the fact that homosexuality existed since the first humans walked upright, our founding fathers never intended for same sex marriage to be legal. And at the same time Scalia knew that those same men – and they were of course all men – somehow envisioned today’s assault rifles despite the fact that the only firearms they experienced while crafting the Second Amendment were muskets and cannons. And don’t even get me started on the rest of that amendment. Oh, and about all those men back then – they surely never envisioned a woman sitting on the Supreme Court…or any other court…or owning property…or voting.

The Constitution has always been and was at least by some of its framers considered to be a living document meant to grow and mature with the times. I did not begrudge Scalia or anyone interpreting the Constitution for whatever reason, or in whatever way, but I did begrudge him – or anyone – telling me what my interpretation should be. Thanks to Scalia we were treated to this paraphrase of his words from Marco Rubio in last night’s debate: “The Constitution is not a living and breathing document. It is to be interpreted as originally meant.” Wrong as usual Marco. The Constitution is living and breathing. Antonin Scalia at long last is not.

I. Mangrey reporting.