Another "screw you" from Antonin Scalia

Conservatives love to sarcastically deride 'big government,' and talk about how much better individuals can do when DC isn't poking its nose in their business. Which is a cruel joke, considering the current GOP's unparalleled love of government power. You've got Bush and Gonzales pushing the unitary executive theory, which boils down to "the president is above the law." The White House has gone to extraordinary lengths to conceal government policy from the public, like re-classifying documents that have been public for decades, or Dick Cheney concealing the minutes from his 'energy policy' meeting with oil execs. Congressional Republicans have gained notoriety for using procedural measures to block debate on bills that favor their party and locking Democrats out of the legislative process.

Antonin Scalia is right at home with the neo-fascists. And he's just about outdone himself this time. Just a few weeks after proudly telling his critics that they can get fucked ( in Italian), he's now come clean on just how much he's enjoying his lifetime appointment.

Conservative U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia on Wednesday called his 2004 decision not to recuse himself from a case involving his friend Vice President Dick Cheney the “proudest thing” he's done on the court.

Scalia's remarks came as he took questions from students during a lecture at the University of Connecticut's law school.

The case in question involved Cheney's request to keep private the details of closed-door White House strategy sessions that produced the administration's energy policy. The administration fought a lawsuit brought by watchdog and environmental groups that contended that industry executives, including former Enron chairman Ken Lay, helped shape that policy. (. . .)

“For Pete's sake, if you can't trust your Supreme Court justice more than that, get a life,” he said Wednesday.

He told students he would have recused himself if the case had involved Cheney personally, but that he viewed the situation differently because the vice president was acting in his official capacity.

“I think the proudest thing I have done on the bench is not allow myself to be chased off that case,” Scalia said.

That's right, his proudest moment was when he bravely stood up against impartiality. And if you don't like it, you know just what you can do. And you've got to love that 'your Supreme Court justice' line. It's frighteningly reminiscent of Bush's insistence that 51% of the vote constitutes a broad popular mandate.