Justice Scalia is in the wrong line of work

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

E.J. Dionne / Syndicated columnist

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Perhaps because I'm in Florida, I can't stop thinking about that bizarre memo Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia issued last week. It's the one in which the justice heaped scorn and ridicule on all who questioned whether he could be fair in deciding whether Vice President Dick Cheney should have to disclose which oil and gas bigwigs he consulted when he ran President Bush's energy task force.

Let me admit: My view is that Scalia should stay out of any case involving the political interests of this administration. Here, after all, is the man who played such a central role in putting Bush and Cheney into office through that abominable Bush v. Gore decision. How can the kingmaker be expected to offer a fair judgment on the king and his hand-picked deputy?

But forget the past: Scalia's own argument for why he should stay on the Cheney case offers the best evidence for why he should get off.

The 21-page Scalia memo is, in part, a heartwarming buddy story. Scalia fondly describes his tradition of going duck hunting at the camp of a friend named Wallace Carline. "During my December 2002 visit, I learned that Mr. Carline was an admirer of Vice President Cheney," Scalia wrote. "Knowing that the vice president, with whom I am well acquainted (from our years serving together in the Ford administration), is an enthusiastic duck-hunter, I asked whether Mr. Carline would like to invite him to our next year's hunt.

"The answer was yes," Scalia went on. "I conveyed the invitation (with my own warm recommendation) in the spring of 2003 and received an acceptance (subject, of course, to any superseding demands on the vice president's time) in the summer. The vice president said that if he did go, I would be welcome to fly down to Louisiana with him."

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http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2001885507_dionne23.html

[JPZenger]

1. Scalia and Right Wing Radio

There used to be a "Fairness Doctrine" requirement on radio and TV stations. This required "reasonable balance" in the coverage of public issues. The balance could be provided through editorial replys, varying points of view on talkshows, or other programming.

In 1985, the U.S. Court of Appeals for D.C. ruled that the Fairness Doctrine was a matter of discretion by the FCC. Guess who wrote that decision - Judges Robert Bork and Antonin Scalia. As a result, Reagan appointees on the FCC abolished the Fairness Doctrine. The absence of a Fairness Doctrine allowed the monopolizing of public airwaves by right wing wackos.