Photographer: Herald got it right (contradicts Scalia's version)

[Rose Siding]

And there's a photo

Amid a growing national controversy about the gesture U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia made Sunday at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, the freelance photographer who captured the moment has come forward with the picture.

“It’s inaccurate and deceptive of him to say there was no vulgarity in the moment,” said Peter Smith, the Boston University assistant photojournalism professor who made the shot.

Despite Scalia’s insistence that the Sicilian gesture was not offensive and had been incorrectly characterized by the Herald as obscene, the photographer said the newspaper “got the story right.”

Smith said the jurist “immediately knew he’d made a mistake, and said, ‘You’re not going to print that, are you?’ ”
.....
“The judge paused for a second, then looked directly into my lens and said, ‘To my critics, I say, ‘Vaffanculo,’ ” punctuating the comment by flicking his right hand out from under his chin, Smith said.

The Italian phrase means “(expletive) you.”

http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=132848&format=text

[kenny blankenship]

1. pic

[Divernan]

21. God, he looks like Lou Costello's evil twin!

Hey Aaaaaaaaaaabbbbboooooottttttt!

[cain_7777]

41. Scalia needs to retire

I think Pat Roberts was talking about Scalia as the next open seat on the supreme court.

[cantstandbush]

109. More evidence of who and what the Rethugs will put on the courts.

Scalia is really a scumball and doesn't deserve the reverence or esteem many conservatives want to give him. Off the bench he could and probably would be a criminal member of organized crime.

[Judi Lynn]

22. Oh, jeez! He should downplay his ugliness, rather than emphasizing it.n/t

[swimboy]

44. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Vaffanculo

How was Mass today, your Honor?

[kenny blankenship]

68. Maybe he was really kissing his bunched-up fingertips

indicating that the serving of Christ he received was delectable, moist and tender--compliments to the chef.

[Jawja]

66. Now doesn't THAT

look dignified for a Supreme Court Justice? :sarcasm:

[radfringe]

126. heh

kind of ironic considering the poll/survey about how we're exposed to more profanity these days...

Oh well, republican values at work

on edit: my grandparents (on mother's side) came from northern Italy, and in that part of the country flicking your chin with your hand has the same meaning as flipping the bird...

[aquart]

93. Does that man look healthy?

Or is Hell dusting off a spit for him?

[HemiCuda]

148. The Photographer was Correct, in my opinion.

"I did the right thing"
Yes he did, I agree with the photographer.I'm glad the paper printed it too.

It's nothing new...Nelson Rockefeller Vice President, 1976

http://imageshack.us>

[QuettaKid]

2. *PIC*

[bottomofthehill]

3. Big shock

Scalia's a full of shit liar.

[wordpix]

4. can we impeach a judge for lying?

[LostinVA]

5. That's right, it means "f*ck you"

Even if he hadn't added "Vaffanculo." My Mom would have killed me if I had made that gesture as a kid... heck, she would now!

Let me get this right: it's Lent, right after he took the Eucharist (remember, the ACTUAL body and blood of Christ -- not symbolic) at Mass and "left in peace"... on the church's steps... and THIS is a good Catholic? I was raised Catholic. I taught CCD. Sorry. Nope. And this ass sits in judgment of ME.

[fishnfla]

12. Typical religious hypocrite

why he is a communicant tells alot about the Catholic church

[Binka]

30. He Said The V Word? Now You Must Come To Sicily So We Can Run And Yell

"Vaffanculo Scalia!" He looks bombed in that picture.

[MADem]

39. Incredible, eh???

He does look bombed--probably indulging in the sacramental Jim Beam before mass!!!

How ya doin', Binka? How's your fine son progressing??

[Binka]

42. Losing His Best Buddy Set Him Back But The 3/7 Is Home

And it has helped his morale quit a bit. Thanks for asking!

[MADem]

50. Not a week goes by that I don't think of you guys

I know you've been through the wringer, and you have such a lovely family. I'm glad that he's mending, and that he has you guys for support!

[DoYouEverWonder]

79. LOL, that makes it even worse

The original story didn't mention that he said 'vaffanculo'. The combination of the word and hand gesture makes what he did even worse. There is no denying what he really meant anymore.

[DinahMoeHum]

37. Well, like I said, a big fat V-word to him as well, the "sticchiu"

sticchiu = pussy

:evilfrown:

[Selteri]

76. MY aunt would have slugged me if I'd made that Gesture in front of her

Or hit me with a big wooden spoon, She's an Italian-America Judge... I won't tell you her opinion of Scalia's little gesture, we all can figure it out since it starts with disgrace...

[ClintonTyree]

83. I grew up with a lot of Italians.....

when someone gave you the back of their hand it meant, "fuck you", in NO uncertain terms. Don Antonin "Fat Tony" Scalia is an embarrassment to the judicial system itself, but the SUPREME COURT? He has no business there and should resign. "Vaffanculo" yourself, Fat Tony. If you want to act like a common mobster do it on your own dime, not the taxpayers'.

[Ignis]

145. Ooh, good extra info.

When we present the story in that light, it should really fire up some of the religious folk who think Scalia's the second coming.

What a disgrace!

[gratuitous]

6. Hmmmm . . .

I wonder what the federal Judicial Fitness Commission might think of one of its judges engaging in such conduct. Rather unbecoming to the profession, if you ask me. When I think about the right wing's relentless efforts to "get" Bill Clinton, they finally settled for pulling his Supreme Court bar ticket; a purely ceremonial "victory." Wouldn't it be a good case of turnabout being fair play to have Fat Tony reprimanded for his unprofessional behavior as well as his bullying attempt to cover it up?

[Delphinus]

92. That's a wonderful idea!

How does one go about planting the seed of such an idea? Who's responsible for doing that?

[tanyev]

7. BWAHAHAHAHA!

:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

[HereSince1628]

8. Been waiting for that. Think it would be a crime on a bumper?

But, but ossifer, it's a public hand gesture of a supreme court justice!

[Lasher]

73. But ossifer, why can't I say "Go fuck yourself"?

[ClintonTyree]

86. Really.....

if our Vice-President can say it in the Congressional Chambers, if a Supreme Court Judge can say it in church.....why can't the common man express himself in the same way? :shrug:

And what will the children think? What about the children? :cry:

[Divernan]

9. Scalia still PO'd that he wasn't named Chief Justice.

He was making nice for the last year before Rehnquist's death, but now he's showing his true self. Let us all be relieved he is not the Chief Justice. Biased as the current one is, he's not as arrogant as Scalia.

[EST]

10. Heheh-a judicial F-word.

I knew that that temperamental, uncultured oaf seems, increasingly, to demonstrate his tremulous hold on reality. The only way the repooplicans are going to do any questioning of the advisability of installing any conservative idiot in a position of responsibility is for circumstances to get so atrocious that a meltdown is guaranteed for either society or the idiot.

[WhiteTara]

11. scalia should be impeached

for high crimes and misdemeanors. He is not fit to be on the august body of the supreme court.
his explanation? “How could your reporter leap to the conclusion (contrary to my explanation) that the gesture was obscene?” Scalia wrote. He is really a putz if he thinks we believe that weak lie. He's a friend of Blackhearted Dick who loves to tell people to go F* themselves.

[shain from kane]

64. Can you imagine their conversations on the hunting trips, peppered

with gestures and cusswords?

[WhiteTara]

117. Scalia said that orgies were good to ease

social tension. If that visual doesn't make you want to puke, you have a stronger constitution than I. :puke:

[kurtyboy]

65. High crimes etc. not necessary...

The Constitution sets the bar for impeachment/removal of "the President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States" at "Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors." (Article II, Section 4, capitalization in the original). By their placement in Article II, I believe these criteria to apply expressly and exclusively to the executive branch.

But for federal judges, the Founders allowed that they "shall hold their Offices during good behaviour." (Article III, Section 1) No mention of any crime is made, and I believe the Founders left the question open for interpretation by the House and Senate.

Less than a score of lesser Federal judges have been impeached and convicted by the Congress, but no sucessful (leading to removal) impeachment of a Supreme Court justice has ever occured. It has been attempted, however.

Samuel Chase was impeached by the House in 1804, but acquitted by the Senate (the charges--judicial bias). Abe Fortas might have faced impeachment in 1969, but stepped down after it was revealed that he had accepted (and then returned) a fee of $20,000 from a questionalble source.

Earl Warren was the perennial target of impeachment calls in the fifties and sixties (I remember the billboards!), but served a full career. His supposed crime? Being too liberal in the Courts decisions...

William O. Douglas was also the target of a serious campaign for impeachment, having written articles that wound up published by (gasp!) known pornographers. Then-Representative Gerald Ford (R-Mich) suggested what the standard of "good behavior" meant in his letter of support for impeachment:

"Once more, I remind you of Mr. Justice Cordozo's guideline for any judge: 'Not honesty alone, but the punctilio of an honor the most sensitive is then the standard of behavior.' Why should the American people demand such a high standard fo their judiciary? Because justice is the foundation of our free society. There has never been a better answer than that of Daniel Webster, who said: 'There is no happiness, there is no liberty, there is no enjoyment of life unless a man can say when he rises up in the morning, I shall be subject to the decision of no unwise judge today.'" (emphasis added)

Ford may have been wrong about Douglas, but I think he may have been right about the standard. Antonin Scalia flouts all manner of judicial propriety, and like Justice Chase before him, has publicly revealed his bias. If ever there was a case for impeachment of a Supreme Court justice, pudgy Tony is it--a lack of high crimes and misdemeanors notwithstanding.

[WhiteTara]

116. Thank you for your great post

I would also appreciate it if you would let me use your research in my next letter to the editor.
:hi:

[kurtyboy]

125. Thank you for the compliment!

Feel free to lift the information--I did! (But always double check the data.)

[PunkPop]

13. And not just any old f*ck you

http://www.gambino.com/curse.htm

A f*ck you of the prison variety.

Another distinguished role model of the right.

[alarcojon]

43. Another quality piece of DU research!

I love this place.

[Jacobin]

14. Uhm, anyone notice his fingers in that pic from a medical perspective?

The fat old SOB has signs of serious congestive heart failure, swollen and squared off finger tips.

Any medical folks in the house?

[PunkPop]

17. I'm not qualified to make a diagnosis

but those sure are some butt-ugly looking digits.

[shain from kane]

106. His fingers are so fat that he can't give the traditional

one-finger salute.
Hence, the ambiguity.

[reichstag911]

19. If that's the case,...

...don't recommend medical advise for him! Since he's starting to look about as fit as the Sta-Puft Marshmallow Man, let hime suffer the same fate...the sooner, the better.

[quaoar]

20. No more cannolis for you, Scalia

[GoddessOfGuinness]

127. Please...

More cannolis. Many cannolis.
Just hold off expiring til we get a Democrat in the WH.

[bmbmd]

26. Plethoric. Cyanotic. Clubbed digits. Dumb as a rock.

First thing I noticed. Needs a blood gas analysis-his oxygen level may be too low.

[Jacobin]

33. Thanks. It seems I've read of doing a preliminary diagnosis

of serious vascular disease by looking at clubbed digits.

Hopefully Fat Tony can hold on until after 2007

[eppur_se_muova]

74. Remember the late Baseball Commisioner, A. Bartlett Giamatti?

A doctor saw him on TV, smoking a cigar, and from his swollen fingers suggested he had heart problems. The doctor warned Giamatti to give up cigars and seek treatment, which he did, but he died of a heart attack shortly thereafter.

[bmbmd]

81. I remember the story-

but the clubbing was actually on the guy behind Bart.

[CoffeeCat]

38. LOL...Dr Frist is that you???

I like your analysis...it made me laugh. I have to agree with it!

[shain from kane]

67. Maybe Frist can give us a diagnosis from a picture.

I can imagine him saying, "This man looks as unhealthy as Cheney. Oh, wait, that's Judge Scalia. I didn't recognize him with that hand in front of his chin. I see that he's waving "hi" to a friend."

[aquart]

96. See, that's what I thought.

So, can stress make it worse?

[Art_from_Ark]

124. Calling Dr. Frist! Calling Dr. Frist!

Report to the Boston Herald website for Internet diagnosis

[KoKo]

15. Now....if this was a Democrtic Supreme...what would Coulter Say...

Their hypocracy is killing them. Cheney shoots old man in face, Scalia shouts "F**k You" to the Press after attending Mass, Bush says that Americans are the only ones who cry when Iraqi children are blown up, and Abramoff says he shouldn't go to jail because he walked to temple in his socks and loves his kids.

:crazy: WHERE ARE THE GROWN UPS!!!! Get these people out and bring back AMERICA!!!!! (even if our country wasn't as great as we thought it was growing up...at least there were ADULTS IN CHARGE...at one time who weren't "ALL" PERVERTS and LOW GRADE CROOKS/THUGS!)

[glitch]

24. At least we were trying to make the reality match the dream...

"even if our country wasn't as great as we thought it was growing up"

[NJCher]

29. correction

That should be "low-grade humans." There's not a low-grade crook among them. It is the one thing at which they realllllly excel.




Cher

[KittyWampus]

16. Inappropriate behavior for a SCOTUS judge. Demeans the position he

should feel honored to occupy.

I reverse my position that the gesture in question isn't obscene. It is meant as a sign of total disrepect. And the word vulgar in the article made me realise, that IS the working definition of obscenity.

That is the function of the GOP- to coarsen public discourse. Drag us down and backwards. Dividing us and degrading us.

America we can do better.

Remember Cheney's "Go fuck yourself" in the Senate?

[Wickerman]

18. Interesting - If he were on the liberal side of the bench

Do you think those actions would get any media play? Nah, not at all - just wall to freaking wall, 24/7.

[MADem]

47. The reason for the media play at all, is because he made a real ERROR

He challenged the friken HERALD, which is a tabloid-sized Boston paper that leans way right. They've got the collective hubris of Dild O'Really, and they aren't shy about slapping back!!!!

[leesa]

23. I'm far more offended by the vulgarity of his conflict of interest

court decision to keep Cheney's Energy papers secret after going Duck Hunting for Dollars with Cheney. Also, the part about overthrowing our government in 2000 was not cool.

[napi21]

25. HAH! Thanks for the article! That brings back a very amusing

memory to me! 20+ years ago, I worked with a Sicilian named Bucky. He taught me that "expletive", and it was the ONLY word I knew in Italian for a VERY LONG TIME!

I laughed a lot when I read that this AM. Believe me, Scalia is lying through his teeth when he says the paper got it wrong! Especially when he added the "word" with the gesture!

[tomp]

27. just like cheney: go f*** yourself to leahy.

these are not statesmen.
these are not patriots.
these are not civilized men.
these are not religious men.
we have animals running our country.

frankly, i think the position that a supreme court justice thinks he can say, "Vaffanculo" to his critics shows he is not qualified to sit on the bench. if he thinks he can do that to his critics, how can he guarantee true impartiality in his decisions. arguably, it is grounds for impeachment.

[Southsideirish]

60. Bingo! They are so crude and vulgar - gotta love those phony "family

value" creeps. Hypocrites!

[yorkiemommie1]

28. no dignity. no reserve.

this rw government has absolutely no desire to maintain some semblance of maturity and class.

[WyLoochka]

31. Scalia

Vaffanculo a Lei, la sua moglie, e' la sua madre. Lei e' un cafone stronzo.

Translation: You, Sir, go F#$% yourself and your wife and your mother. You are a common turd.

[Lena inRI]

108. SPACCONE--VIGLIACCO--FACCIA DI MERDA. . .

BLOWHARD--CAD--ASSHOLE

:puke:

[NJCher]

32. I hope the legal profession leads the way

In asking this jerk to resign. This is absolutely disgraceful. The fact that he asked whether the newspaper was going to publish it is proof that he knew he had behaved in a manner unbefitting the position of a Supreme Court justice.

In February 2001, I went to a protest in Princeton where Scalia was speaking. I carried a HUGE sign, 4' wide and 4' tall. I stood under a street light and it was my great pleasure when I looked up see him looking out the window, reading my sign, which said, Selection 2000: Thanks to Tony "the Fixer" Scalia.





Cher

[hippiechick]

34. Good to know the mafia controls the SCOTUS ...

:scared: :puke: :wtf:

[alcibiades_mystery]

70. WTF does that mean?

"Vaffanculo" with the hand gesture is common among most Italians and not at all limited to the mafia. In fact, if Scalia pronounced it that way, he is not using the dialect that would be used by most mafia figures, but using standard Italian. Unless you're suggesting that any Italian gesture is assoxciated in your mind with the fucking mafia?

[hippiechick]

87. oh lighten up

:eyes:

[Name removed]

101. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[onehandle]

35. And the baby Jesus cries. nt

[CoffeeCat]

36. Proof that this administration is like the mafia...

Yesterday, I listened to a speech that Scalia gave. This was the first time I'd ever seen what he looked like.

I was shocked at how undignified, sloppy and classless he was. I really was astounded.

He looked like a washed-up thug who had been kicked out of Tony Soprano's inner circle for being brain damaged.

[Deep13]

40. So Tony Scalia becomes Tony Soprano.

asshole

[Gman]

45. Go Vaffanculo yourself

They get away with pretty much anything.

[Zenlitened]

46. I wonder if the Scalia apologists who've been roaming the board...

... claiming the gesture was not obscene... will step forward and retract their words?

The gesture... as DESCRIBED IN PRINT and now as seen as the photograph... is universally considered obscene and insulting when delivered in such a setting.

A presumably grown man ought to know better. A justice on the highest court in the land ought to behave better. A holier-than-thou sanctimonious phony moralist -- like Scalia -- ought to be raked over the coals for it.

[MADem]

49. The gesture in itself, is crude, and rude, but it is the accompanying

PHRASE that makes the obscenity complete. I've lived in Italy, and that gesture in and of itself, so long as it isn't executed FORCEFULLY, can simply be a slightly rude way of being 'dismissive.' You can use it when you are discussing politics, for example, and you disagree with a point of view. When directed specifically at a person, though, and accompanied by verbiage that is literally translated as "GO FUCK YOURSELF" it is plainly obscene. However, that bit did not accompany the original reports.

[Zenlitened]

54. Friends, office chums, etc. sometimes flip the bird at each other..

... in a wry or joking way.

Flip the bird to a stranger in a public setting... it is obscene and insulting. Period.

Scalia's gesture is comparable, and the setting in which he delivered it leaves no room for the sort of shades of gray you describe.

[MADem]

62. But it isn't the actual bird

If you want to tell someone, in essence, UP YER ASS, over there, nonverbally, you would use the THUMB, in a sharp, deliberate gesture. The flip of the fingers has a range of interpretations, is all I am saying. When accompanied by that phrase, there is no doubt what he meant. However, as I stated previously, initial reports did not mention the phrase at all, which gave rise to the discussion of 'dismissive vs. obscene' in the first place.

I lived there for seven years, I'm familiar with the culture.

[seriousstan]

52. No retraction here, I will continue to let the Italians define

their hand gestures, as is proven here...http://members.fortunecity.com/italyfolk/hands.html.

The language he used was obscene. The gesture he used was dismissive. I see no reason to believe that a person couldn't put 2 phrases together and say "Fuck you, I couldn't care less".

The original story did not contain the language component.

[Zenlitened]

56. Well, I've got an "i" on the end of my name, and in all my decades...

... in Italian neighborhoods and among family, the gesture has always been understood to be provocative, not merely dismissive. It's the equivalent of giving someone the finger. You might do it ironically among goodnatured friends. But try it on a stranger in a public setting and the core meaning is instantly clear, no accompanying words required.

[Selteri]

78. I concur, they won't though...

Half of them are Republicans in hiding, the other half, well, I'm not sure other than ignorant perhaps. I posted this yesterday, I know that Gesture and have been around Italians, if I pulled that crap around them they would generally beat the tar out of me unles it was a appropriate placing, they consider it to be a bit worse.

[Gregorian]

48. Lowest common denominator. Highest seat in the land.

This is why Bush IS. This is the mentality that can make America just like any other ordinary gut-instinct country.

We can do better. It's time to weed. The unfortunate thing is, * installed lifetime appointments that will haunt this country. That piece of crap.

[Norquist Nemesis]

51. So when does Tom DeLay and Boehner take the floor

with loud condemnation and protest? :popcorn:

[tocqueville]

53. a little precision about "vaffanculo" = get sodomized

it literally means "go and take it up your ass"

it's a contraction

va = go

fa = be done

an = in

culo = ass

the equivalent in French is "vas te faire enculer"

used specially against men, it's even more derogative, playing on homophobic feelings

[kenny blankenship]

55. Thanks! I was just going to ask about the "culo"

Knowing the function of cul- in other languages.

[warrens]

57. The GOP way: Go Fuck Yourself

I admit, that's the way I feel about every single bushsucker. They're all treasonous thugs, and the sooner the dumb motherfuckers secede from the Sane part of this country, the better. They can keep their Wal-Marts and Krispy Kremes and just get the fuck out of our lives.

[allisonthegreat]

58. guess a gesture is worth a 1000 words...n/t

[Texaroo]

59. Did you read Antonin's letter to the editor?

He tries to say that the gesture wasn't obscene, but then he provides the Italian phrase he used to annotate the gesture, "vaffanculo," or "va f'an gul." Now, as in English, there is a watered down version of this , which is "vafanapoli" - literally, "go to Naples," but, in the vernacular, "go to hell."

So he could have used a watered-down version and gotten away with it, but he went for the gusto. So, to the Justice, I say, "VAFFANCULO." Which, according to him, means, "Have a nice day."

[Jose Diablo]

61. Yeah, he did the same thing when he ruled on the 2000 election in Florida

Except that time he was saying "(expletive) you" to America. With that ruling, he put his buddies Bu$h and Cheney in power against the wishes of the voters in Florida.

This guy needs to be impeached and incarcerated.

[mark11727]

97. I gotta go clean my glasses...

On first reading, I though you wrote This guy needs to be impaled and incinerated. :evilgrin:

[JWS]

63. Nice to know we have a Justice

that would make Tony Soprano proud.

[Patrick J Fitzgerald]

69. Whatsa Matta You!?

Joining the ranks of Dick Cheney, Scalia brings shame and dishonor to another American institution - the United States Supreme Court. Maybe a fine, an apology or in the very least a good Mother Superior wrap on the knuckles with a ruler are in order?

And Vaffanculo's Definition: Fuck you! (literally, go and take it in your ass)

http://patrickjfitzgerald.blogspot.com

PS: Antonin, if you keep saying "Hey, I am Sicilian," I might use RICCO on your ass.

[eppur_se_muova]

71. Isn't that just OOZING with "gravitas".

Remember, he's the "intellectual" on the SCOTUS.

[bluerum]

72. This hack gives Italian Americans a bad name. How embarrassing. nt

[VP505]

75. I know this is off topic but

I cant help asking, did anybody watching c-span2 see Tancredo answering questions? Some caller made the comment that we need to get the Republicans thrown out of power, the look on his face was priceless, sort of like a guy that's trying to pass gas without anybody hearing it and instead shits his pants. very funny, LOL

[gasperc]

77. I'm Italian, it means Fuck you

When you flick your hand under your chin it's fuck you in Italian or "va funculo" Go fuck yourself

[lovuian]

80. He reminds me of the Godfather going to mass and meanwhile

being a gangster... thats Scalia

[The White Tree]

89. Yes but he'll never be the Godfather

just the Consiglieri, unless something happens to Roberts. I imagine that pains him quite a bit.

[Lasher]

82. Whatever happened to the first photo?

There was one that was taken right before this, which prompted the "You're not going to print that..." comment. I thik he had flipped someone the bird.

[Kailassa]

88. The photo is of him doing that Italian style. n/t

[rateyes]

84. Scalia, take Cheney's advice and

Go vaffanculo yourself!

[Efilroft Sul]

85. Not getting the Chief Justice position must really be eating at him.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

[DFW]

90. Bush wanted

....more Supreme Court Justices in the mold of Scalia and Thomas.

That way, he could have all nine of them making obscene gestures in unison,
or if not, then in choreographed sequence when the legal scholar arguing
for the preservation of Roe v. Wade comes before them.

[OG Yankee Patriot]

91. I'm Born & Raised in Bensonhurst Brooklyn

and you have to look at the foto to see Scalia is SMILING, which completely changes the context of the gesture.
it's completely benign, darned near friendly, something guys do to each other 5 times a day on average.
and who among us hasn't wanted to punch a paparazzi in the face? sheesh, the guy is coming out of church, that's out of bounds in any neighborhood.

[barbaraann]

102. Yes, Scalia is a jolly, friendly, kind old man, isn't he?

And he just loves the press! How anyone could ever think there was any hostility in anything he ever did is beyond me. ;-)

[Binka]

123. Well Of Course The Smile Changes Everything

Guys do this 5 no shit 5 times a day? Hey asshat I live in Sicily people do not do this to each other. Ever. Unless they are looking for an ass kicking. I should be nice and say enjoy your stay but I am pissed off this morning so I'll tell you to GET THE FUCK LOST.

[fryguy]

94. well let's recap

president calls a journalist a major league asshole....

vice president tells a senator to go fuck himself....

supreme court justice tells critics to shut the fuck up....

amazing how well the GOP has brought integrity back to Washington.....

[pinniped]

95. Well, that's what Carlos said right before he beat the shit out of....

Connie Corleone.

It didn't sound like a nice greeting.

--‘Vaffanculo--

[MsMagnificent]

98. Even "Va fa..." is a nasty curse

without completing the entire phrase. To draw out 'va fa...' isn't as bad as saying the whole thing, but it is implicit that you are being extremely nasty, stopping just short of the equivalent of saying 'the F word' although the intent is still clear.

He didn't even abbreviate, he came out with the whole thing -- in church yet -- he simply doesn't care.

We have no thinkers at the helm of this country, we have no statesmen... all we have are entrenched, corrupt, rich white men who are so powerful they can do and say whatever they please; they don't even care to hide it.

And these men are the pride and joy of the right wing.

[ThoughtCriminal]

99. Stupid to attack paper when they have photo

Do I have this straight?

They originally ran the story, but not the picture. Once Scalia sent a letter attacking the paper and denying the meaning of the gesture, they released the photo. What did he think they would do? Apologize?

[shain from kane]

107. Never get in an argument with someone who buys ink by

the barrel and paper by the ton.

[bdamomma]

100. not very professional for being a justice, no class at all

[SeaBob]

103. Judge

well this photo prove that Judge Scalia has all the warmth and charm of a bucket of used monkey spunk

[babsbunny]

104. What a Fat Freak!

[NoAmericanTaliban]

105. The Pope must be so pround.

I knew he was a butt wipe - but I didn't know he was that bad. No wonder Dick & him like to hang out together.

[geniph]

110. Well, if they're still trying to maintain this isn't offensive

I'd like to see Fat Tony's reaction if everywhere he went, people flipped him the V sign and told him to go get fucked up the ass. Anybody think apoplexy would be the least of it?

[ima_sinnic]

111. ugh, that is one UGLY disgusting piece of excrement

you fat freaky overstuffed dumbass, stuff your greedy face with pasta and grease until your skin can no longer stretch to contain the foul funky pus that fills your corpulent carcass and you explode, splattering the walls with fetid cholesterol-soaked maggot guts and releasing the world from your particular plague of evilness. you were conceived by satan himself as a walking storage unit for the greasy fat he needs to keep the fires burning hot.

[colorado_ufo]

112. Tell us how you feel -

don't hold back!

[Catfight]

113. So when is the apology? nt

[splat@14]

114. Any chance this asshole will go hunting with Cheney? I'll provide the guns

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

115. I thought it meant:

"Orgies will revitalize your bodily fluids."


Total maroon.

[chill_wind]

118. It just got the fluff treatment on Blitzer/CNN

Jeannie M took it to the neighborhoods in NY, doing CNN's best to lighten it up/muddy it up/find conflicting interpretations. Although those they mentioned the accompanying quote to (that they depicted) agreed--- "He said that? That's bad.."

[Devil Dog Dem]

119. Liar! Liar! Pants on fire!

What a scumbag!

[Sarah Ibarruri]

120. Somebody needs to dig up his skeletons. He's got to have some. nt

[liam_laddie]

147. Fat Tony skeleton circa 1985-86

The Collier brothers' book "Votescam" alleges an exploit worthy of note. For those who have the book,
it's in Chapter 13, pp 257-261. Their daughter's website <http://www.votescam.com/abriefhistory.php>
will summarize part of it. (Emphasis added by me)

"Another notable Votescam criminal can now be found sitting on the bench of the highest court in the
nation. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, while still a Federal Appeals Judge, single handedly
destroyed* what would have been an historic lawsuit filed against Justice Department lawyer Craig
Donsanto, who had refused to prosecute the extensive vote fraud evidence brought to him by the Colliers.
The evidence included videotape of the League of Women voters tampering with ballots in a closed-door
vote "counting" session. (*he surreptitiously inserted a memo into the case file 60 days after the fact,
a "summary affirmance" of the lower court's decision to dismiss their case.) The Colliers alleged that
for this act, he was rewarded with a nomination to the SCOTUS by the Republican hierarchy.

The women were illegally punching holes in already cast ballots. When confronted by Jim and Ken, just
minutes before the two were bodily thrown from the building (which they had snuck into), the women
claimed they were only trying to remove . . . the hanging chad.

Votescam states, "Because the League of Women Voters has about it a perfume of volunteerism and
do-goodism, the fact that it is actually a political club with a political agenda and a hungry treasury is
shrouded by the false myth that it is a reliable Election Day watchdog."

It's no surprise to me that the League of Women Voters has recently come out strongly in favor of the
diabolical ballot-less Touch Screen machines. And even less shocking was the role Antonin Scalia
played so willingly in the selection of George W. Bush to office."

[mitchum]

121. And he still had Jesus on his breath!

What a fucking boor

[Karmakaze]

122. I don't think it matters whether the gesture is obscene or not...

The fact that he made ANY kind of gesture that can be argued about, is in itself unbecoming. Hell even if he had done a "Talk to the hand" gesture it would still be unbecoming behaviour for a Supreme Court Justice! This isn't high school, and he isnt a geuest on the Jerry Springer show, he is one of the most important people in America, and he is making gestures at his critics?

What is he, 5?

[LizW]

128. The entire quote epitomizes Bushco and the Repugs:

"To my critics, I say, 'Vaffanculo'"

That's it in a nutshell, folks. From the stolen 2000 election (including the installation of Bush by the SC) to the illegal war (and the ensuing war crimes), to the Plame affair, to spying on American citizens, and everything in between.

"Vaffanculo, America."

[UTUSN]

129. Checking out this URL for future use:

Yip, it works.

[mod mom]

130. It's always reassuring when you have a SC Justice willing to lie so

matter-of-factly.

[DeepModem Mom]

131. Church fires photog over Scalia picture: Freelancer pays for 'right thing'

Boston Herald: Church fires photog over Scalia picture: Freelancer pays for ‘right thing’
By Jessica Heslam
Friday, March 31, 2006



A freelance photographer has been fired by the Archdiocese of Boston’s newspaper for releasing a picture of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia making a controversial gesture in the Cathedral of the Holy Cross on Sunday.

Peter Smith, who had freelanced for The Pilot newspaper for a decade, lost the job yesterday after the Herald ran his photo on its front page. Smith said he has no regrets about releasing it.

“I did the right thing. I did the ethical thing,” said Smith, 51, an assistant photojournalism professor at Boston University.

Smith snapped the photo of Scalia flicking his hand under his chin after a Herald reporter asked the conservative jurist his response to people who question his impartiality on matters of church and state.

Smith wouldn’t give up the photo earlier this week but chose to release it when he learned Scalia said his gesture had been incorrectly characterized by the Herald. Smith, who was standing in front of the judge, said the Herald “got the story right.”...

http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=132932

[Bozita]

132. Truth is dangerous. The Boston Archdiocese ought to know

Think pedophilia.

[ClassWarrior]

133. Tell ya what - let's fire Scalia instead.

NGU.

[VegasWolf]

134. Yeah, the church isn't going to tolerate anyone screwing with THEM!!

:puke::puke::puke::puke::puke::puke::puke::puke::puke::puke:

[henslee]

135. How sad that our chief justice is a totally wretched human being.

[truebrit71]

138. When did he become Chief?

...I believe Roberts is the chief justice, no?

[henslee]

142. Yeah. Sorry.

[truebrit71]

144. No problem!!!

scalia as chief justice is even more scary than the current wingnut...

[sui generis]

136. the church has a history of killing the messenger

nothing new here.

[Devlzown]

137. He looks like a skid row bum.

Seriously, he looks like he's drunk as shit.:beer:

[Peanutcat]

139. I thought religious people were against stuff like that

Obscene gestures from a sitting U.S. Supreme Court justice is alright, I guess.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

140. So they fire a guy for taking a picture?

Wasn't that what he was hired to do?

If they don't like seeing pictures of Asshole Antonin making obscene gestures, maybe the scumbag shouldn't make them.

[Oeditpus Rex]

143. They fired him because he sold it to the Herald

He was shooting for the Boston archdiocese paper, according to the Herald story.

It doesn't say, though, whether he also had an arrangement with the Herald. Freelancers can sell their shots to whomever they wish, unless they have an exclusive contract. I assume the latter is the case by what the story says.

And a fine point: Technically, a freelancer can't be "fired."

[lindisfarne]

149. Moderator: I disagree with combining the news about firing photog

with the thread about the story about the photographer releasing the picture.

The firing of the photographer is news in and of itself.

The person who posted the news about firing as a separate thread (http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2200007) should have had their thread stand. Otherwise, that news gets lost in the long thread about the release of the picture.

I appreciate sometimes the decisions the moderators make are difficult. But this to me was a mistake.

[Hosnon]

141. And the guy wonders why he didn't get to be Chief Justice. nt

[genieroze]

146. Hey Scalia, "testa di merda"

http://www.gambino.com/curse.htm

even better
http://italian.about.com/library/slang/bladultslangindexc.htm

[0007]

151. Scalia is also a a big fat stinking Sticchiu......

[AnneD]

150. Where does the Supreme Courts authority come from?

my wise American History teacher once asked. They have no way to enforce their judgment. They don't have money to raise an army. All they do is issue an opinion. So where is there athority...Their authority comes from the respect we place with them.

When I see Scalia make gestures (and hear his comments on orgies, or about his hunting trips)and read Clarence Thomas'rulings, I think back on my teacher's words and wonder how much longer will it be before the court loses the total respect of the people. I think deciding the 2000 election was the first step down that slope.