Justice Scalia Chastises Boston Newspaper

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Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, in a scathing letter to the editor of the Boston Herald, accused the newspaper’s staff of watching “too many episodes of the Sopranos” for interpreting a hand gesture he made at a cathedral as obscene.

The Boston Herald reported Monday the justice made “an obscene gesture, flicking his hand under his chin” in response to a question about whether lawyers might question his impartiality in matters of church and state. The incident occurred after he attended Mass at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross.

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breitbart.com/news/2006/03/29/D8GLAQ702.html
 
Go Antonio! This world needs more straight shooters like him. He will not be spewed out for lukewarmness.
 
Straight shooter? Oh no, he blew it. Now he’s trying to save face.
 
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Benedictus:
Straight shooter? Oh no, he blew it. Now he’s trying to save face.
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You’re right. I don’t want to get on any high horse, because I’ve certainly done stupid things not unlike this, but the Justice was wrong to make the gesture (picture at the Boston Herald website - taken by a free lancer for the Boston Pilot, the Archdiocesan paper) and he’s trying to hide it now.
 
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Benedictus:
Straight shooter? Oh no, he blew it. Now he’s trying to save face.
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What? He was spot on. The reporter seems to have lied or was a poor interpreter.
 
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johnnykins:
You’re right. I don’t want to get on any high horse, because I’ve certainly done stupid things not unlike this, but the Justice was wrong to make the gesture (picture at the Boston Herald website - taken by a free lancer for the Boston Pilot, the Archdiocesan paper) and he’s trying to hide it now.
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Actually, it doesn’t bother me that he made a mildly obscene gesture. I just don’t think he should pretend that he didn’t. I don’t even think he should apologize. I wouldn’t even comment on the matter–it’ll go away eventually.
 
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Benedictus:
Actually, it doesn’t bother me that he made a mildly obscene gesture. I just don’t think he should pretend that he didn’t. I don’t even think he should apologize. I wouldn’t even comment on the matter–it’ll go away eventually.
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Heh, such a non-story. You Americans must be bored. 🙂
 
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Benedictus:
Actually, it doesn’t bother me that he made a mildly obscene gesture.
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What is obscene about a gesture that says “I could care less”.

You can call it “rude”. How is it obscene?
 
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Grolsch:
Heh, such a non-story. You Americans must be bored. 🙂
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It was a media attempt at character assassination and slander. They first accused him of giving the middle finger and they have had to backtrack ever since.
 
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Benedictus:
I just don’t think he should pretend that he didn’t.
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He is not pretending he did not make the gesture. He came forward, admited to doing the gesture and then referenced what that gesture means: ‘I couldn’t care less. It’s no business of mine. Count me out.’
 
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Hildebrand:
What is obscene about a gesture that says “I could care less”.

You can call it “rude”. How is it obscene?
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It is obscene to the Media elite because he is a conservative. It also was probably insulting to them since it show how irrelevent the MSM is not.

PF
 
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Hildebrand:
first accused him of giving the middle finger and they have had to backtrack ever since.
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Correction: they accused him of using a obscene hand gesture under his chin. The speculation from there was that Scalia gave the “bird”.
 
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WanderAimlessly:
It is obscene to the Media elite because he is a conservative. It also was probably insulting to them since it show how irrelevant the MSM is not.

PF
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This brings back memories of what the media tried to do with Bill Bennett.

If you are public about being pro-life, the media will try to make you fear opening your mouth or appearing in public. Character assassination is the name of their game.
 
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Hildebrand:
Correction: they accused him of using a obscene hand gesture under his chin. The speculation from there was that Scalia gave the “bird”.
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Source: One of the first reports by the Boston Herald
Minutes after receiving the Eucharist at a special Mass for lawyers and politicians at Cathedral of the Holy Cross, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia had a special blessing of his own for those who question his impartiality when it comes to matters of church and state.
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“You know what I say to those people?” Scalia, 70, replied,** making an obscene gesture under his chin** when asked by a Herald reporter if he fends off a lot of flak for publicly celebrating his conservative Roman Catholic beliefs.
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democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2190287

Soon after, media reports interpreted it as the “bird”…

Source:
BOSTON, March 27, 2006 (UPI) – U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia startled reporters in Boston just minutes after attending a mass, by flipping a middle finger to his critics.
A Boston Herald reporter asked the 70-year-old conservative Roman Catholic if he faces much questioning over impartiality when it comes to issues separating church and state.
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“You know what I say to those people?” Scalia replied, making the obscene gesture and explaining “That’s Sicilian.”
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postchronicle.com/news/breakingnews/article_21211998.shtml
 
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Benedictus:
Straight shooter? Oh no, he blew it. Now he’s trying to save face.
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Actually it is the Boston Herald trying to save face.
Monday, March 27, 2006 - Updated: Mar 27, 2006 01:54 AM EST
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****“You know what I say to those people?” Scalia, 70, replied, making an obscene gesture under his chin when asked by a Herald reporter if he fends off a lot of flak for publicly celebrating his conservative Roman Catholic beliefs.
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democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2190287
Updated:Mar 29, 2006 06:06 AM EST

“You know what I say to those people?” Scalia, 70, replied, making an obscene gesture, flicking his hand under his chin when asked by a Herald reporter if he fends off a lot of flak for publicly celebrating his conservative Roman Catholic beliefs.
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http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=132311

The Boston Herald had to clarify and “update” the article to explain exactly what Scalia did. The first reports they released did NOT include the part about Scalia “flicking his hand under his chin”. They let people wonder exactly what obscene gesture Scalia made.

It turned out to be a gesture that is not obscene at all.
 
This is typical of the smear campaigns by the left in the MSM. One they are caught in their spin, they have to backpeddle. It is time they are taken to task for their action.

PF
 
bostonherald.com/ check out today’s Herald - the sign is exactly what was described - and the photographer claims the Justice added a spoken obscenity.

When I was growing up in Boston - that flip off that the Justice used certainly meant the same thing as the finger. The word alleged to be used exactly means what the finger means. Maybe that gesture means different things in different places or situations? That I don’t know - thopugh I honestly doubt it.

I don’t know. It was human and politically unwise. Beyond that - so what. We all wish he hadn’t. I know I’ve done and said worse. But, he’s a public figure and we always crucify public figures for doing what we all do. Let it drop.
 
This was posted on a site earlier this week:

If there’s one area in which I’d like to think I’m an expert, it’s in the meaning of Italian hand gestures. I’ve seen them all before I was 6 years old - not just at home but on the playground. And one thing I can tell you is that the hand gesture Justice Scalia is giving above is one I am very familiar with. Only an ignorant fool who has never spent 3 seconds among Italians - especially those whose families hail from Sicily (who like to think of themselves as “Sicilian” rather than “Italians”) - would think it’s obscene. It basically means “I could care less”.

The reporter who thought it was obscene probably thinks the “hairy eyeball” or the “malocchios” is some part of a Italian Satanic ritual. And I’m sure you true Italians out there know how to ward off the “malocchios”.

But if you really want to offend an Italian - especially a woman - and not use a profanity, call her a “faccia brutta”. Literally it means “ugly face”, and it’s sometimes used to say that, but the larger context is that of a person whose ugly on the inside, which is actually more of an insult among Italians.

anklebitingpundits.com/
 
Well, there are people who think the “F” in SNAFU means “fouled” and not the obscenity it does stand for. Go to most any dictionary - and it will say “fouled.” But, we all know what it really stands for. Similarly with this hand gesture. Neither my father nor my mother would use the real “F” word around us when we were kids - but we knew it. “I could care less” - well OK - that’s one possible euphemism. But we all know what it really means, sorry.

The gesture most certainly meant exactly what the reporter said it meant - at least when I was growing up. Maybe folks from Boston are less genteel than others.
 
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