Puffery!
"Smokin' mad Newports / 'cause I'm due in court...."
"Camp" and I were walking back to school from lunch today when we had probably the most surreal moment in recent memory.
As we crossed the street, one of our colleagues from the (S)Law Review, normally a quiet and unassuming fellow, was giggling like a schoolgirl with his friends. We only noticed him address us as we were almost past him, but he said something to us like "...he's smoking a cigarette!", and thrust his arms aft to the side door of the Law School.
As Camp and I approached the door, we saw none other than Justice Antonin Scalia of the U.S. Supreme Court, reading some papers and puffing on a cigarette, surrounded by four Federal Marshals and a Metro police officer.
Camp and I just walked in stunned silence for a while, attempting to soak it in. We both had different internal reactions that made us stunned, but we could not make out a full, coherent sentence for a while. Camp kept repeating over and over that "He should know better than that!", referring to why such an educated man would be puffing on a cancer stick, especially considering his age and weight. I agreed, but added later that "There probably are a lot of people who would be glad to know that Scalia smokes."
Camp was in such "shock and awe" by Scalia's small fireworks that she repeatedly refused to allow me to take what would be this blog's finest picture -- the potentially new Chief Justice sucking down some nicotine right outside my school. Camp redeemed herself later by allowing me to use her camera-phone to take 4 pictures of "Uncle Noni" later that day, one of which will hopefully be up later this week.
Justice Scalia was in town to visit the law school and lecture on one of his favorite topics, "An Originialist Approach to Constitutional Law." He spoke to an Admin Law class, a Con Law II class, the Federalist Society, and later, the entire school.
Here were some highlights of the presentation(s):
1. At the Admin Law presentation, Scalia smacked down "Bull" after Bull turned a Standing discussion into a whiny complaint about the length of time it takes the court to hear cases alleging important deprivations of constitutional rights.
2. "Gelato," a friend of mine who manages to be nerdy, personable, funny, accepting, and offensive all at the same time, berated Assistant Dean "Spamdine" for not having enough seats to accommodate one of the Scalia presentations, forcing us to have to "retire to an anteroom" and watch the presentation on closed circuit TV. He also told her that he would not be giving any money to our school. Spamdine, not too quick on the "comeback train," waited for Gelato to walk away before she muttered a paltry "Oh, Please."
3. Justice Scalia, during his discussion of a case where the Court held that a state law forcing election campaign ads to list the source of the advertisement was unconstitutional (Scalia dissented, believing the law was a legitimate exercise of a state's police power), discussed why his brother-in-textualism, Justice Thomas, broke sides with him to vote with the majority. He noted that Thomas was taken by the argument that the Federalist Papers, one of the nation's first memorable political writings, originally listed the author's name as "Publius," a pseudonym. This prompted huge laughter from Gelato, "Syria," The Magic Williams, and myself (if you do not know why, read the next paragraph).
4. The look on Justice Scalia's face via closed circuit TV, and the corresponding laughter, when one of our more wordy professors, "Silverburg," attempted to carve holes in his lecture via the use of an overly long and complicated hypothetical.
[During the Clarence Thomas Confirmation hearings, it was alleged, among other things, that Justice Thomas used to place his pubic hairs on, or "Pube," if you will, Anita Hill's Coke Can and/or coffee cup. Hence, we found it rather amusing that Justice Thomas would be so taken by the "Pube-lius" argument.]
All kidding aside, it truly was a great thrill to meet Justice Scalia and hear him speak. He was a laugh riot during his speech about the dangers of having a "Living Constitution." I personally find myself agreeing with his opinions often (possibly more often than any other Justice in some areas of the law), so it was a special treat for me. I have a strong feeling that Camp, who often avoids giving me straight answers regarding her ideology, does not agree with Scalia very often, but still enjoyed the presentation. Syria said later that hearing the "Pube-lius" comment was one of the defining moments of his law school career. The only downside was some of the stupid questions that law students asked him. I even heard one girl after the presentation say something to Scalia like, "that argument is kind of simplistic, no?" Maybe he had to dumb it down for you, honey.
As for my final thought, let me just say that it does not surprise me in the least that my Law School can drive even a visitor for a day to smoke.
"Camp" and I were walking back to school from lunch today when we had probably the most surreal moment in recent memory.
As we crossed the street, one of our colleagues from the (S)Law Review, normally a quiet and unassuming fellow, was giggling like a schoolgirl with his friends. We only noticed him address us as we were almost past him, but he said something to us like "...he's smoking a cigarette!", and thrust his arms aft to the side door of the Law School.
As Camp and I approached the door, we saw none other than Justice Antonin Scalia of the U.S. Supreme Court, reading some papers and puffing on a cigarette, surrounded by four Federal Marshals and a Metro police officer.
Camp and I just walked in stunned silence for a while, attempting to soak it in. We both had different internal reactions that made us stunned, but we could not make out a full, coherent sentence for a while. Camp kept repeating over and over that "He should know better than that!", referring to why such an educated man would be puffing on a cancer stick, especially considering his age and weight. I agreed, but added later that "There probably are a lot of people who would be glad to know that Scalia smokes."
Camp was in such "shock and awe" by Scalia's small fireworks that she repeatedly refused to allow me to take what would be this blog's finest picture -- the potentially new Chief Justice sucking down some nicotine right outside my school. Camp redeemed herself later by allowing me to use her camera-phone to take 4 pictures of "Uncle Noni" later that day, one of which will hopefully be up later this week.
Justice Scalia was in town to visit the law school and lecture on one of his favorite topics, "An Originialist Approach to Constitutional Law." He spoke to an Admin Law class, a Con Law II class, the Federalist Society, and later, the entire school.
Here were some highlights of the presentation(s):
1. At the Admin Law presentation, Scalia smacked down "Bull" after Bull turned a Standing discussion into a whiny complaint about the length of time it takes the court to hear cases alleging important deprivations of constitutional rights.
2. "Gelato," a friend of mine who manages to be nerdy, personable, funny, accepting, and offensive all at the same time, berated Assistant Dean "Spamdine" for not having enough seats to accommodate one of the Scalia presentations, forcing us to have to "retire to an anteroom" and watch the presentation on closed circuit TV. He also told her that he would not be giving any money to our school. Spamdine, not too quick on the "comeback train," waited for Gelato to walk away before she muttered a paltry "Oh, Please."
3. Justice Scalia, during his discussion of a case where the Court held that a state law forcing election campaign ads to list the source of the advertisement was unconstitutional (Scalia dissented, believing the law was a legitimate exercise of a state's police power), discussed why his brother-in-textualism, Justice Thomas, broke sides with him to vote with the majority. He noted that Thomas was taken by the argument that the Federalist Papers, one of the nation's first memorable political writings, originally listed the author's name as "Publius," a pseudonym. This prompted huge laughter from Gelato, "Syria," The Magic Williams, and myself (if you do not know why, read the next paragraph).
4. The look on Justice Scalia's face via closed circuit TV, and the corresponding laughter, when one of our more wordy professors, "Silverburg," attempted to carve holes in his lecture via the use of an overly long and complicated hypothetical.
[During the Clarence Thomas Confirmation hearings, it was alleged, among other things, that Justice Thomas used to place his pubic hairs on, or "Pube," if you will, Anita Hill's Coke Can and/or coffee cup. Hence, we found it rather amusing that Justice Thomas would be so taken by the "Pube-lius" argument.]
All kidding aside, it truly was a great thrill to meet Justice Scalia and hear him speak. He was a laugh riot during his speech about the dangers of having a "Living Constitution." I personally find myself agreeing with his opinions often (possibly more often than any other Justice in some areas of the law), so it was a special treat for me. I have a strong feeling that Camp, who often avoids giving me straight answers regarding her ideology, does not agree with Scalia very often, but still enjoyed the presentation. Syria said later that hearing the "Pube-lius" comment was one of the defining moments of his law school career. The only downside was some of the stupid questions that law students asked him. I even heard one girl after the presentation say something to Scalia like, "that argument is kind of simplistic, no?" Maybe he had to dumb it down for you, honey.
As for my final thought, let me just say that it does not surprise me in the least that my Law School can drive even a visitor for a day to smoke.
posted by TheRealDookie | 10:59 PM
1 Comments:
You make it sound poetic "MC.... who grabed his three decades old machette and prepairs for battle."
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