(OR: Antonin Scalia, a giant among Jurists.)
Nino, to his close friends and family. A piano player of considerable skill. A father of 9 children and 28 or so grand kids. Most of all a man of great common sense and loyalty to his common sense principals. The media writers try to describe him with labels that diminish his view of the Constitution. That will not happen here. His common sense told him the Constitution was drawn by brilliant men, who meant what they said. Like all brilliant men they were not perfect but their English was clear and concise. He knew with all his heart that if the Constitution was to be amended,( as it often has been) it should be changed only by the manner it set forth. It should never be changed by reading into it something that is not there, or believing it is a Living Document . Change should only come with difficulty and by a super majority. Never a majority and especially never a minority.
Scalia was to the Constitution what the Knights Templar were to the Holy Grail. His drinking cup was the Constitution and he stood over it above all the other members of the court. He would have defended it to his death, and maybe he did.
Here follows what the second strongest conservative member of the court said of him.
“Justice Scalia was a good man: a wonderful husband who loved his wife and his family, a man of strong faith, a towering intellect, a legal giant, and a dear, dear friend. In every respect In every case, he gave it his all to get the broad principles and the small details right. Virginia and I are deeply saddened by his sudden and untimely death. Our prayers and love go out to Maureen and the Sclaia Family. It is hard to imagine the Court without my friend. I will miss him beyond all measure.” Justice Clarence Thomas

The last sentence says more than you might know. To Thomas and every other member of that court Nino was better than them, and they knew it. From a lawyer who spent time as a judge, and scribe in an Appellate court, Rooster knows full well what Nino meant to the court. His loss leaves a much bigger hole than any of the others ever will. He was solid as a rock and as tall as the mountains it came from. It is hard to visualize the networking that goes on in such a place, but it does and every personality has his or her influence. The court has been evenly balanced with Kennedy the waffle vote. The leader who held the conservatives to their post is gone. Great things will be written about him.
President Obama will never nominate anyone who can be approved. If you think for one moment he has any common sense, then you need a strong adult beverage. If you believe all people of black heritage think alike then you forgot that Clarence Thomas also has the same heritage. If you made that mistake then you need an even stronger drink. The vacancy of Scalia is so huge, no moderate, progressive, or undecided will ever fit.
All lovers of the Constitution, all you Knights in Common Sense Armor, must demand no one be appointed until an equally endowed President can do it. Then you must rise and demand the new appointee be as principled as Nino. That means the new Justice must be better than any of the existing Justices. Most importantly he or she must also be a lovable human being. Not impossible but difficult. Goodbye, Nino and God bless you my man.
PROTEST: Fly the Betsy Ross flag. It is the one flag where all the States supported the Constitution.
Wc: 603
Rooster Bradford gives up all rights to this article and seeks no compensation for its use. 2016