Scallywag

Another depressing reminder of why this election was so important:

It was Justice Antonin Scalia's standard speech. He bemoaned the Supreme Court's growing political role in cases such as abortion, then joked about how Democrats are wary of a "Chief Justice Scalia" in a second Bush term.

But in an appearance one week after President Bush's re-election, Scalia elicited a particularly hearty roar and ovation from a conservative Federalist Society crowd with his kicker.

"Please," a clearly pleased Scalia said. "It was supposed to be funny!"

Hilarious.

With Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist ailing with cancer, the irascible Scalia is doing nothing to discourage talk that he would like to be Bush's pick if Rehnquist steps aside this year.

Scalia's ascension is considered a long shot because the staunchly conservative justice would prompt a firestorm of opposition from Democrats, abortion rights supporters and others groups. Nonetheless, Scalia seems to be relishing, if not subtly encouraging, the speculation.

See, here’s another reason why Democratic opposition to, as examples, the appointments of Condi Rice and Alberto Gonzales are important. Because the promotion of ideologues should always be expected to be met with a firestorm of opposition. However, we’ve got a problem, because:

Scalia got an unsolicited boost in December from Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. He suggested he would be open to elevating Scalia, calling the justice a "smart guy."

Even if Reid doesn’t find Scalia’s positions objectionable, even if he does find him a smart guy, his willingness to consider Scalia for the position of Chief Justice should have been severed once Scalia brazenly ignored possible conflict of interest charges and went on a hunting trip with VP Dick Cheney while Cheney had a case pending before the Supreme Court. Whether it was indicative of a lapse of judgment or a sense of being above the normal guidelines of propriety really doesn’t matter. Even Liebertwat had a problem with it, and, back when he was still a Democrat, sought to find out if Scalia should be compelled to recuse himself from the case.

It’s troubling that our Senate Minority Leader is still open to the possibility of a Chief Justice Scalia. I really hope that, should that possibility present itself for debate, there are Dems willing to galvanize the fierce opposition their constituents expect.