Digby: "Scalia may have written the single most fatuous line in Supreme Court history "

[phantom power]

Just tangentially, I'd argue that the following line, from the same case, is the most cowardly line in judicial history: "Our consideration is limited to the present circumstances"

...if there’s one Supreme Court justice who exemplifies this propensity of modern American conservatives to bend the system for partisan ends when needed, it was Justice Antonin Scalia. His legacy as a hardcore legal conservative is second to none, but it will always be over-shadowed by one decision: Bush v. Gore. The Republicans had already begun the process of destroying the integrity of Congress with its partisan witch hunts and the impeachment circus of the 1990s; but if there’s one Supreme Court ruling that paved the way for the total abandonment of any pretense of dignified non-partisan adherence to traditions for the sake of preserving the integrity of our institutions in the eyes of the public, it is that one.

Indeed, Justice Scalia may have written the single most fatuous line in Supreme Court history with his brief concurrence in that case:

“The counting of votes that are of questionable legality does in my view threaten irreparable harm [George W. Bush] and to the country, by casting a cloud upon what he claims to be the legitimacy of his election.”

Scalia was a very smart man, and he had to know that this would be one of the main decisions for which he was remembered. His willingness to risk his reputation by writing that ridiculous rationale for a nakedly partisan outcome served as an example to conservatives everywhere: Win by any means necessary.

He did not like being reminded of it. When college audiences would ask him about the decision he would usually bellow, “Get over it,” which was the standard line the media employed in the wake of the decision in 2000.

http://www.salon.com/2016/02/14/antonin_scalia_was_the_forefather_of_modern_republican_nihilism/

[Gabi Hayes]

1. agreed on the most fatuous; here's my pick for

the most disgusting:

''This Court has never held that the Constitution forbids the execution of a convicted defendant who has had a full and fair trial but is later able to convince a habeas court that he is “actually” innocent.

Quite to the contrary, we have repeatedly left that question unresolved, while expressing considerable doubt that any claim based on alleged “actual innocence” is constitutionally cognizable.''

In the myriad hours I've been unable to detach myself from the cable/computer since this bloated fascist prick blew out his heart, I've not seen ONE person who has mentioned this appalling statement.

[phantom power]

2. Scalia - not just a nakedly partisan hack, but also an asshole.

[Gabi Hayes]

4. that's what makes it so infuriating: they're treating

him as if he was the greatest jurist in history, just because he was supposedly smart.

he was clearly suffering from presenile dementia, and even talked about it, obliquely.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

5. Why must you insult all assholes by comparing them to Scalia?!?!

Bernie & Elizabeth 2016!!!

[myrna minx]

3. K&R

[Gabi Hayes]

6. and here's (in connection to your OP) probably one of

the most ironic statements ever uttered:

“A system of government that makes the People subordinate to a committee of nine unelected lawyers does not deserve to be called a democracy.”

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2015/06/