Antonin Scalia: Watching the Supreme Court Will Make You Dumber

If there's one thing Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia likes, it's the Constitutional framers' original intent. Except for cases like women voting and desegregated schools — you know, popular stuff.

But if there are two things Antonin Scalia likes, it's educating the American public. Which is why he refuses to let them watch the Supreme Court do its job…

Scalia told C-SPAN in an interview to air later this week that he opposes cameras in the court because he does not believe the American people will watch and understand the context of Supreme Court hearings…

"…what most of the American people would see would be 30 second, 15 second take-outs from our argument, and those take-outs would not be characteristic of what we do, they would be uncharacteristic," he told C-SPAN.

He's right: according to the FCC, news outlets are only allowed to broadcast 30 seconds of jowls at a time.

But he's right about education too. We don't need the Supreme Court to learn about, say, health care reform. We're better off sticking with the Glenn Becks of the world. (Did you know not one Justice asked the White House counsel how Obamacare would apportion death panels by state?)

Anyway, you can check out more things Scalia is right about when we watch his appearance on this week's "Fox News Sunday." Get our free app to join our live discussion/eye-rolling session.

Photo by Tim Sloan/AFP/Getty Images

Tags: Antonin Scalia, Supreme Court

WINNER Caption Challenge: Antonin Scalia & Donald Verrilli

Submitted by Taylor S. Knetsch.

Image by Art Lien/Getty Images News/Getty Images

Tags: Antonin Scalia, Caption Challenge, Donald Verrilli, Games and Challenges, Health Care, Judiciary, Supreme Court

YOU DECIDE Caption Challenge: Antonin Scalia & Donald Verrilli

Image by Art Lien/Getty Images News/Getty Images

Tags: Antonin Scalia, Caption Challenge, Donald Verrilli, Games and Challenges, Health Care, Judiciary, Supreme Court

Caption Challenge: Antonin Scalia & Donald Verrilli

Leave your caption in the comments section of this post.

Image by Art Lien/Getty Images News/Getty Images

Tags: Antonin Scalia, Caption Challenge, Department of Justice, Donald Verrilli, Games and Challenges, Health Care, Judiciary, Supreme Court

Vulture-Like Ideologues Circling Supreme Court Justices

Did you know that about a third of the current Supreme Court Justices are, like, really old? It's true. Three of them are going to turn 80 during the next presidential term. That means they're gonna die soon.

Which, obviously, is great news for somebody or other, depending upon who wins the general election in November…

The next president, whether it's Obama or a Republican, also has a reasonable shot at transforming the majority on the Supreme Court, because three justices representing the closely divided court's liberal and conservative wings, as well as its center, will turn 80 before the next presidential term ends.

The three justices are Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the leader of the court's liberal wing, conservative Antonin Scalia, and Anthony Kennedy, who leans conservative but on some issues provides a decisive vote for the liberals.

The next high court opening would cause a titanic confirmation fight if it would allow a Republican president to cement conservative control of the court by replacing Ginsburg or if Obama could give Democratic appointees a working majority for the first time in decades by replacing Scalia or Kennedy.

Obviously, it's a bit gauche to openly root for either the death or infirmament of a human being. That said, this narrow and extreme ideology is not going to push itself onto largely unwilling populace of the nation.

So, come on, Grim Reaper. Snap to it!

(via Think Progress)

Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images News/Getty Images

Tags: Anthony Kennedy, Antonin Scalia, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Senior Citizens, Supreme Court