Bernie Sanders: Antonin Scalia was brilliant

[Cali_Democrat]

The Republicans weren't alone in memorializing Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, with Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) acknowledging that while they didn't always agree, Scalia was "brilliant."

Here's the full statement from Sanders:

While I differed with Justice Scalia's views and jurisprudence, he was a brilliant, colorful, and outspoken member of the Supreme Court. My thoughts and prayers are with his family and his colleagues who mourn his passing."

Former secretary of state Hillary Clinton was reportedly made aware of Scalia's death at the end of campaign event in Nevada, but she had not yet released a public statement Saturday evening.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/dems-react-scalia-detah-sanders-clinton

[beam me up scottie]

1. That's Bernie, always classy.

So do you think Hillary will give the eulogy at Kissinger's funeral when he passes?

I know they're very close.

[TheBlackAdder]

41. The ability to dissect issues into propaganda feeds, is miracle work akin to FOX News craft!

.


You know who else is a friend of Henry Kissinger's: Roger Ailes


.

[beam me up scottie]

43. President Obama is praising Scalia right now on television.

I wonder what the op thinks of him?

[840high]

48. Yes - just listened.

[cui bono]

62. oh.... nevermind...

EDITED

.

[beam me up scottie]

69. !

[orpupilofnature57]

64. + 1000000000000 !!!!!!!!!!!

The Highroad whenever possible that's the spirit of generosity, obviously looking ernie's voting record in congress they didn't agree or work toward the same America, RIP .

[senz]

67. OBAMA said the SAME DAMN THING: he called Scalia "BRILLIANT."

What's the OP going to do about that?

[beam me up scottie]

68. I expect him to post an op asap!

This is YUUUGE!!!

[Betty Karlson]

131. Sanders has no need to resort to kitchen sinks. That's the mark of a leader:

doing the right thing, even when the wrong thing is easier to do.

(wrong things done by wannabe-leaders: DADT, DOMA, TPP, IWR, cuts to social security, minimum wage below living standard, prison industry, calling children 'predators' because of their skin colour...)

[cantbeserious]

2. Bernie - Perfect Tone - Perfect Pitch

eom

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

33. Yes, Bernie's always classy.

Bernie & Elizabeth 2016!!!

[Onlooker]

3. Well, Scalia's "brilliance" helped bring about gay marriage. n/t

[6chars]

40. You are so right!

[Broward]

4. And the problem is?

[Bonobo]

5. Sanders is a stealth Conservative, patiently biding his time!

[berniepdx420]

7. +420

[hifiguy]

37. He's been a reichwing sleeper

for 60 years.

Ya can't trust ANYONE these days.

[berniepdx420]

6. Bit of a small but important misquote...cali...

You minimized Bernie' quote of ... "While I differed with Justice Scalia's views and jurisprudence" .... you rephrased it as "while they didn't always agree" small but it does change his thoughts quite a bit... I am sure this was not intentional but wanted to correct it

[beam me up scottie]

11. "I am sure this was not intentional but wanted to correct it"

Oh I'm sure it wasn't intentional either she typed trying to keep a straight face...




Nice catch!

[hifiguy]

49. They have the subtlety of a community bedpan

and the easy grace of a Holstein on rollerblades.

[beam me up scottie]

53. LMAO! Perfect!

[hifiguy]

59. Thank you!

[Warren DeMontague]

113. It's that time again!

[beam me up scottie]

114. LMAO! Literally! That gets better every time!

[beam me up scottie]

116. Here's the video for anyone who hasn't seen it yet:

[Duckhunter935]

46. not intentional I am sure

[Cali_Democrat]

50. It's not my article. It's TPM's. The link is at the bottom of the OP. nt

[berniepdx420]

127. My apologies Cali... I see now it wasn't your article...

[Motown_Johnny]

8. Thanks for posting.

Bernie shows he is out ahead of Hillary once again. I expect her to mimic him, again.

[berniepdx420]

12. I would bet the Hilarite brain trust is huddling together trying to figure out how to squeak as much

political juice as they can out of this...

[Motown_Johnny]

21. Hillary did already respond

but I wasn't going to go there. I figured someone who supports her would know that already. My mistake.


https://twitter.com/search?q=hillary+clinton+statement+scalia&ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Esearch

[cyberswede]

9. And "a dedicated public servant who brought energy and passion to the bench."

Huh. Classy people say kind things about dead people.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/12511227177

[Autumn]

16. Some people say nice things about Kissenger too and that SOB is still alive.

[cyberswede]

20. Well, I just wanted to point out that the OP's attempt to criticize SBS for his statement was silly.

[Autumn]

29. Ya know a couple of celebratory glasses of wine and the mind goes where it shouldn't

My husbands and I went to the market, still got snow all over the place, I took off my sweater and told him it was hotter than a bonfire in hell. Imagine my shock and surprise when I got home and turned on the news Bernie is always classy and Hillary's remarks were too.

[Admiral Loinpresser]

83. Still, that was a great riposte.

I almost passed water through my nose.

[morningfog]

30. You must not be aware of their posting history.

[Cleita]

10. Nobody ever said he wasn't. Most people acknowledge he was sharp legal mind.

What he did with that mind, however, was evil.

[hifiguy]

63. He was very smart. His opinions got awfully sloppy in the last few years, though.

He certainly was no dolt like Uncle Ruckus.

[JRLeft]

13. Brilliance is another word for intelligent which Scalia was, but he's

an asshole. At least he was.

[bvf]

14. He also said he thought Hillary's book was good,

so he's being tactful as ever. What's the problem?

[Kalidurga]

15. Well Scalia did do something brilliant recently.

[Autumn]

18. Yeah, that he did

[Electric Monk]

17. Brilliant and evil aren't mutually exclusive.

"Mere factual innocence is no reason not to carry out a death sentence properly reached."




Scalia in 'toons

[Kalidurga]

23. Yeah, but only if the defendant was black. Amiright or amiright?

[morningfog]

27. In Scslia's opinion, not right.

[Kalidurga]

39. Yeah but I doubt he said that about a white person wrongly convicted

I just seriously doubt it.

[hifiguy]

31. A statement that would have done

his soulmate Roland Friesler very proud.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roland_Freisler

[Carolina]

35. K&R

greatest response!

[JonLeibowitz]

107. FYI: He didn't actually make that statement, though it is often so attributed. n/t

[Electric Monk]

115. A google search for "Scalia" also includes it in their info box about him, fyi

Here's a crop of a screen cap I just took. It's the middle quote.

[JonLeibowitz]

117. Nobody can point to where exactly he said those words, though. Why?

Because he didn't say them.

See: http://news.lawreader.com/2008/08/30/barry-miller-widely-published-scalia-quote-re-innocense-is-inaccurate-we-have-to-agree/

[Electric Monk]

120. So, from your link, it appears that quote is a shortened paraphrase of what he really did say. Ok.nt

[JonLeibowitz]

122. It's out of context and that is unfortunate because he was making a legal argument.

Legal arguments don't always lend themselves to paraphrase, especially by one's enemies.

However, I'm not sure Scalia would disagree with the misquote either. Just interesting to note one of his most infamous quotes wasn't really said. Yay "journalism"?

[KingFlorez]

19. Interesting

That's all I will post.

[senz]

71. President Obama said scalia had "a brilliant legal mind." Also interesting?

[Dem2]

22. Scalia is dead

And whereas I'm not a politician, I feel no pressure to say something nice about said despicable human being.

[Rocky the Leprechaun]

44. I'll say something nice. Scalia is dead?

Good.

[dsc]

24. by any reasonable measure he was a smart man

he also was awful those aren't mutually exclusive.

[morningfog]

25. He was. He was nasty,ugly, a bigot and full of hate. But very smart

and very good at legal reasoning.

I loathed him and he was not only one the wrong side,but ideologically driven. But he was a very smart jurist. Anyone who has read his opinions knows that.

[hifiguy]

26. Somehow Bernie always manages to strike the right note.

When I was a young pup fresh out of law school, one of the senior partners had an argument coming up before the SCOTUS. He was a solid Humphrey Democrat, liberal as can be, wise and modest. He was also a classmate of Scalia's and clerked for Felix Frankfurter after graduating magna from Harvard Law.

When the case came up in a department meeting someone asked him about Scalia. John, who never said anything mean about anyone, said, and I quote "Nino is a very smart man. In fact he's almost half as smart as he thinks he is." The twinkle in his eye and the sly half-smile were priceless.

John won his case, with Scalia dissenting.

[TransitJohn]

28. He was a pretty smart guy.

If I were religious, I'd be hoping he's burning in hell.

[DefenseLawyer]

32. I don't think he was brilliant

He was hyper-partisan, outcome oriented and, yes, a colorful writer. That being said, beyond his bluster, he wrote very few landmark opinions and in many of those cases his legal analysis was less than "brilliant". With all due respect, most of the people talking about him have never read a Supreme Court opinion in their lives.

[Carolina]

36. Excellent!

K&R

[Hassin Bin Sober]

60. Agree.

And no, I'm no expert.

But I read his petulant whiny opinions on gay marriage and ACA and thought, this is the brilliant mind everyone talks about??? He was two notches above a whiny freeper on freerepublic.

[senz]

72. So what do you think about Obama saying he "had a brilliant legal mind?"

Same criticisms? Hm?

[DefenseLawyer]

86. I'm not saying he was an idiot

But I would maintain that 50 years from now, no one will be teaching Scalia opinions in law schools.

Here's an interesting read from Richard Posner, hardly a liberal himself, that makes the point rather well.
https://newrepublic.com/article/106441/scalia-garner-reading-the-law-textual-originalism

[senz]

91. I wasn't questioning your assessment of Scalia. I couldn't stand him.

I was annoyed at the people who were putting Bernie, whom they don't like, down for saying it before they knew that Obama, whom they do like, said the same thing.

I didn't know where you were coming from.

A lot of legal types did consider Scalia brilliant, especially when it came to original intent, and maybe if I were a judge or a Constitutional law professor like Obama, I'd agree, but I did read and/or hear snippets of some of his angry dissents and got the impression that his emotions made him irrational and petty. Also, I am positive his Catholicism tinged some of his opinions, especially on abortion. He wasn't objective and didn't always base his opinions on what's in the Constitution.

[DefenseLawyer]

92. The problem is

There are many examples where he completely ignored original intent when it didn't get him to the outcome he wanted. I wasn't criticizing Senator Sanders, I thought it was a gracious thing to say. I was just throwing my two cents into the fountain.

[senz]

94. Well you're validating my impressions.

I think Scalia was a very activist part of an activist court. This court scares me, especially after Bush v. Gore (under the other guy) and Citizens United.

[JudyM]

87. Agreed. But IMO Rehnquist was. But what I wouldn't give for another Brennan.

That just made me get teary.

[cherokeeprogressive]

34. You're slamming Bernie Sanders for saying Scalia was intelligent? Hoo boy...

No avenue you people won't crawl down, I swear.

[hifiguy]

54. There's always a new low to sink to.

It shouldn't take them long to do so.

[doc03]

38. Well I wonder what we would say if Hillary Clinton said the same thing hummm?

[Bobbie Jo]

51. That goes without saying...

"Perfect" or "classy" certainly wouldn't have been among the descriptors.

I see know the drill...

[cyberswede]

80. I disagree

http://www.democraticunderground.com/12511227163#post9

http://www.democraticunderground.com/12511227163#post29

[TheProgressive]

42. Petty...

petty |ˈpetē|
adjective (pettier, pettiest)
1 of little importance; trivial: the petty divisions of party politics.
• (of behavior) characterized by an undue concern for trivial matters, especially in a small-minded or spiteful way: he was prone to petty revenge on friends and family.
2 [ attrib. ] of secondary or lesser importance, rank, or scale; minor: a petty official.
• Law (of a crime) of lesser importance: petty theft. Compare with grand.

[MelSC]

45. Ha! If Hillary said Scalia was "brilliant"

Can you even imagine...

[beam me up scottie]

52. She praised him too, so did Obama. What's the big deal?

[840high]

56. Did you listen to Obama's comment?

[Kittycat]

47. Do you plan to slam Pres. Obama now?

He pretty much said the same thing.

[senz]

74. Yep, they're going to have to change their tune.

Poor things.

[B Calm]

55. Bernie has class, thanks for posting!

[EmperorHasNoClothes]

57. Bill Clinton just said he "always liked" Scalia

Oh, the scandal!

[hifiguy]

65. I know a guy - now a federal judge himself - who clerked for Scalia on the SCOTUS.

He said Scalia was a likable guy and a good boss. Even Justice Ginsburg says as much.

That doesn't mean he wasn't an asshole of Himalayan proportions on the bench.

[Cheese Sandwich]

58. Hillary Clinton: Scalia was a "dedicated public servant who brought energy and passion to the bench"

https://www.hillaryclinton.com/briefing/statements/2016/02/13/justice-antonin-scalia-passing/

[doc03]

76. Now that is a classy statement without praising him for

his right wing decisions. I guess she didn't agree with his brilliant right wing philosophy.

[OrwellwasRight]

61. That's exactly why I could never be a politician.

I could never be so gracious and well spoken about someone about whom I feel the way I do about Scalia (trying to phrase this in a way that makes sense without speaking ill of the dead).

[mythology]

66. He was certainly called brilliant

Although I'm not sure the asshole who wrote that innocence wasn't enough to stop somebody from receiving the death penalty should be called brilliant. He was certainly willing to twist things, but that doesn't actually require being brilliant.

[Recursion]

70. Every lawyer I know concedes that he was brilliant

It makes the liberal ones hate him all the more.

[uponit7771]

73. Didn't Scalia call black people stupid here recently for not going to certain colleges?

[Cali_Democrat]

75. Yup.

But according to many here, he was in fact brilliant!

[senz]

81. The joke's on you, Cali_Democrat.

And it was EASY.

[beam me up scottie]

82. According to the president too. Are you going to facepalm over that as well?

[Humanist_Activist]

125. You seem to be making up issues to be mad at Bernie about, why is that? n/t

[beam me up scottie]

79. I wonder why Obama just said he had a brilliant mind?

[senz]

84. This is just so nice.

I love the way this worked out.

[beam me up scottie]

85. Yes, it is!

I'm proud of president Obama and Bernie! I'd expect nothing less from statesmen of their caliber.

[senz]

88. Exactly.

I've also noticed that whatever issue comes up nationally, Bernie is always one of the first with a completely appropriate statement. Always brief but to the point. He always says the right thing, never at a loss.

Good thing in a president.

Of course, Obama had to give a longer statement because that's what expected of his office. I would love to see Bernie, with his honed instincts and sense of what's needed, holding that position. It would be good.

[msanthrope]

95. The President said he had a brilliant legal mind. So the joke is on you.

Lawyers know what that means. Obama dissed him.

[beam me up scottie]

97. Is that the spin you guys are going to put on it? Obama "dissed" Scalia?

Did you watch the press conference? Good luck selling that one!

[msanthrope]

99. Yes. Saying someone had a "brilliant legal mind" is not a complement

that speaks well to their humanity. Lawyers heard it and understood the insult.

[beam me up scottie]

100. Yeah, still not buying it since that wasn't the ONLY nice thing Obama said about him.

But if it makes you feel better you go with that.

Dissed him...

[msanthrope]

102. Yes. Dissed him. I heard exactly what he meant. nt

[beam me up scottie]

103. Sure, whatever you say...

[senz]

105. A brilliant legal mind pales beside brilliant mind reading.

That's pretty impressive, msanthrope.

[senz]

98. Obama had a lot of nice things to say as did Sanders and Clinton.

It is this thread that has the problem.

And there is no "joke" on bmus.

[frylock]

121. Foiled again..

CURSES!! :shakes fist:

[jfern]

77. That's called a Presidential statement

Of course Bernie will fight tooth and nail to have liberal justices.

[senz]

78. Here is President Obama saying Justice Scalia had "a brilliant legal mind."

Now what are you going to do with that?

[jillan]

90. Oh no!! CD just threw Obama under the bus

[senz]

96. Does look like it

[jillan]

89. What did you want him to say that he was a fucking asshole ?

You don't get it do you?

[whatchamacallit]

93. Mmm... turdelicious!

[liberal N proud]

101. Further epitomizing what BS stands for

And it's not a Democratic value.

[beam me up scottie]

106. Are you saying Obama lacks Democrat values???

[JonLeibowitz]

108. This OP is such a delicious expose of the smear campaign. Thank you PBO!

[beam me up scottie]

110. They're falling all over themselves to condemn Bernie when Obama said the same thing!

This thread is all kinds of AWESOME!

[Bonobo]

104. Few OPs show this level of pettiness combined with distortion.

So I will kick it to let people see the face of the Hillary support on DU.

[JonLeibowitz]

109. Kick for visibility.

[m-lekktor]

111. I love this thread!!

[Warren DeMontague]

112. Yes, it's considered bad form for a public figure to dis another public figure on their death.

It's one of the things that distinguishes public figures from, say, internet trolls.

[frylock]

118. Kicking for the lulz

[Live and Learn]

119. You don't do irony do you. Read it again, it really wasn't a compliment. nt

[ucrdem]

123. LOL, so much for the Kissinger meme.

Bookmarking!

[beam me up scottie]

124. Your post makes no sense. When was Scalia Bernie's trusted adviser?

I must have missed that, do you have a link?

[Humanist_Activist]

126. What is amusing about this thread? Its Bernie being diplomatic about a guy who just died...

no more, no less, and some Clinton Partisans are trying to create an issue out of this. It makes no sense.

[Warren DeMontague]

128. Did Scalia carpet bomb cambodia?

Did he deliberately sabotage the paris peace accords?

Im not saying Scalia was anyone i agreed with on anything, but at least he played by the rules.

[Warren DeMontague]

129. To say you guys are grasping at straws is an insult to straws.

It's embarassing. You must really be running on fumes.

[ucrdem]

130. LOL, see you in Charleston

[Warren DeMontague]

134. You misunderstand; I'm not saying she won't win.

(I'm saying you guys are grasping at - hell, air. I mean, come on. 'He said something nice about the dead guy" - okay, sure, run with that.)



I've always assumed she probably would get the nomination, I suspect it's a done deal she'll win SC.

But she's been the heavily favored "most likely to" from the get-go. If she wins, it will be despite her lackluster campaign and her supporters' silly attempts to change the conversation to superficialities, not because of them.

As for the Charleston, It's nice to remember the past, as well as recognize exactly how distant it is from us today.

For instance, the people here who incessantly bring up the "lessons of the 72 election" might not realize that there have been exactly as many years between '72 and now, as there were between the election of 1928 and 1972. Imagine basing your understanding of the issues around the '72 election using the map of the '28 election as your guide!

[Bonobo]

132. Kicking for silly pettiness! nt

[Buzz cook]

133. That is the inside the beltway take on Scalia, that he was "brilliant".

Many people I respect have said that no matter what an asshole Scalia is/was he was really smart.

But over the years I've heard or read things he's said that seem really really stupid.

So I wonder how much of the smart Tony talk is because the center left didn't oppose his nomination and they looked for an excuse.