Justice Antonin Scalia: The Definition of Arrogance

You've heard the old joke -- look up the word 'arrogance' in the dictionary and you'll see a picture of [fill in the blank]. Well, the latest name that could easily fill that space is US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.

Speaking recently in Hartford, Scalia admonished anyone who dare question whether or not he could be impartial to "get a life." The exact quote was "For Pete's sake, if you can't trust your Supreme Court justice more than that, get a life."

My question to Scalia is: 'What have you ever done that would make progressives think they could trust you?'

Scalia refused to recuse himself from a case involving his hunting buddy, Vice President Dick Cheney.

The Associate Press reports:

Scalia, addressing an audience at the University of Connecticut's law school on Wednesday, said recusing himself from the 2004 case - which focused on an energy task force that Cheney led - would only have given fuel to newspaper editorial writers and other detractors who have said he is too close to the vice president.

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

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. The Supreme Court upheld the administration position on a 7-2 vote.

Scalia refused to recuse himself from the case, rejecting arguments by critics who questioned his impartiality because of a hunting vacation that he took with Cheney while the case was pending.