tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1462946535883846881.post5638456716399263119..comments2024-03-17T16:32:51.970-04:00Comments on Vast Public Indifference: Scalia on Grave MarkersCDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14390048358391513711noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1462946535883846881.post-72414246538899978482010-10-06T17:01:22.440-04:002010-10-06T17:01:22.440-04:00Anything negative you say about Antonin Scalia wil...Anything negative you say about Antonin Scalia will be fine with your mother-in-law (and father-in-law).allenhnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1462946535883846881.post-2087420318673864782009-10-09T14:06:37.608-04:002009-10-09T14:06:37.608-04:00As far as I know, the marker in question was erect...As far as I know, the marker in question was erected on Federal land by the VFW in 1934 as a memorial to the "Dead of All Wars." In 1999, the NPS disallowed a Buddhist shrine on the same site. Subsequently, an employee of the NPS brought suit for a violation of the first amendment. The case seems to hinge on whether the land was/is federal land. <br /><br />That's all I know, since I'm getting my info from the <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-cross7-2009oct07,0,5398268.story" rel="nofollow">major media outlets</a> just like everyone else. I don't have any particular insight into the legal merits of the case, which is why I limited my remarks to gravestone-related issues.<br /><br />I don't think that it's particularly doctrinaire to point out that Justice Scalia was wrong on the facts in this case, or that it is inappropriate to use no-no words like "bullshit" in calling him out. He wasn't lying — he was bullshitting. That is, he expounded on a topic about which he knew very little, but tried to pass off his ignorance as expertise. Other people of my generation might use the term <a href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Fuckery" rel="nofollow"> "fuckery,"</a> in this situation, but my mother-in-law reads this blog (my own mother does too, but she has never said anything as dainty as "bullshit" in reference to Justice Scalia).Caitlin GD Hopkinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05317897772288904474noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1462946535883846881.post-52121957852251010362009-10-09T13:46:33.441-04:002009-10-09T13:46:33.441-04:00As for me, I think it would be pretty cool to have...As for me, I think it would be pretty cool to have a 20-foot-high winged skull on top of a mountain.Robert J.https://www.blogger.com/profile/12937384579138400443noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1462946535883846881.post-6567114889137104012009-10-09T11:39:43.518-04:002009-10-09T11:39:43.518-04:00This is hardly a "small" issue. This is ...This is hardly a "small" issue. This is the most recent SCOTUS test of the separation of church and state. Scalia's comments are trying to argue that this monument doesn't equate to establishment. http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_10/020327.phpCharleshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06896450229466257660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1462946535883846881.post-86382768183283212002009-10-09T11:20:36.183-04:002009-10-09T11:20:36.183-04:00Talk about hitting a nerve!
I enjoyed your resp...Talk about hitting a nerve! <br /><br />I enjoyed your response; very nicely worded. Your original post left something to be desired in my opinion, but it is your blog and you may be as doctrinaire as you like and, I suppose, use whatever level of vocabulary you prefer.<br /><br />Now, what about the historical significance of the marker?kfrancherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07357740735813693403noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1462946535883846881.post-34813322003255029832009-10-09T11:05:54.518-04:002009-10-09T11:05:54.518-04:00I thought this posting was an excellent and most a...I thought this posting was an excellent and most appropriate use of knowledge about the past to illuminate a current controversy.J. L. Bellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15405157000473731801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1462946535883846881.post-12856851419017705102009-10-09T10:44:08.392-04:002009-10-09T10:44:08.392-04:00Seems like fair area for commentary in a blog abou...Seems like fair area for commentary in a blog about grave markers; actually very welcome and necessary, whatever the indifference. Scalia's an intellectual bully who has made a career - and legal precedent - dressing unchallenged middlebrow chauvanism up in scholarly finery.<br /><br />Anyway, <a href="http://www.executedtoday.com/2007/12/08/1596-francisca-nunez-de-carvajal-her-children-and-four-other-crypto-jews-of-her-family/" rel="nofollow">crosses + stars of David imagery</a> also appears on some (possible) headstones of conversos/crypto-Jews. Since this was Mexican territory, the cross part would obviously be Catholic...ExecutedTodayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03452108189816861566noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1462946535883846881.post-39914262033203895592009-10-09T09:25:15.050-04:002009-10-09T09:25:15.050-04:00It's true that I don't like his politics, ...It's true that I don't like his politics, but I could live with that. What I hate hate hate hate hate is his theory of history. Justice Scalia is a firm believer in Constitutional Originalism, and, at the same time, a firm believer in making up things about history. The two make for a potent one-two punch: he says that he is basing his decisions on a solid respect for the past, unlike wishy-washy liberals, but his "past" is a fairyland. <br /><br />Of course, everybody uses the past to suit their purposes, but not everybody gets to enshrine his or her personal biases in Supreme Court decisions and call them history.<br /><br />As for who cares — well, me, obviously :) As for everyone else — it ain't called "Vast Public Indifference" for nothing.Caitlin GD Hopkinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05317897772288904474noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1462946535883846881.post-76760141793528170402009-10-09T08:55:35.777-04:002009-10-09T08:55:35.777-04:00Wow! That's quite a pointed comment about som...Wow! That's quite a pointed comment about some obscure matter. Obviously, you just don't like his politics. You could have just said "You lie!". That seemed to get some attention a couple weeks ago.<br /><br />But, in general, who cares what a supreme court justice has to say about a grave marker?<br /><br />By the way, is there a real story about the grave marker? That sounds interesting to me.kfrancherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07357740735813693403noreply@blogger.com