#773 One-Sided Torture

I was watching an interview of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia not long ago and I was struck by the man’s incredible arrogance.
It was like Rush Limbaugh had turned Italian.
I was surprised. You expect Supreme Court judges to be studious and deliberative and into weighing the pros and cons of a case. And most importantly, hearing other people out before they render an opinion.
Judge Tony was talking about his opinion that torture wasn’t cruel and unusual punishment. He had an interesting spin on it. He said that it wasn’t unconstitutional. Not because it wasn’t cruel and unusual.
But because torture wasn’t punishment.
You got to give him credit for taking the “it depends on what is is” approach. Hell, I thought he would split a different legal hair altogether by defining “cruel” or “unusual.” But no, he simply declared torture wasn’t punishment.
But what galled me most was his defense of this odd idea. “It’s my opinion,” he said. “And it happens to be right.”
Essentially, “I’m the Supreme Court Judge and I get to define words so neener neener.”
I suppose if the “opinion” was delivered with a certain amount of humility, it would have been easier to take. But it was done with the kind of self-satisfied smugness that made you want to apply electrodes to his scrotum.
There he sat, looking for all the world like a spoiled, overfed Nero, glibly directing the torching of Rome with his one-sided view of a dangerous practice.
“Fire? Fire’s not harmful. It’s useful. See, watch me cook these suspected terrorist Christians with it. How could it burn down a building? It’s my opinion and it happens to be right.”
The Nero analogy ain’t too far off by the way. Scalia’s staring to look like a bad Zero Mostel imitator.
Actually, I think scalia is an Italian word that means puffy.
By the way, if I was torturing you, and you gave me the information I wanted, I would reward you by stopping. If you didn’t I would, um, punish you by continuing.
That’s my opinion. It happens to be the one that’s left.
America, ya gotta love it.