Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn every now and then

Justice Antonin Scalia is, of course, arrogant, vain, and authoritarian. He also knows he's much smarter than you and sees little point in concealing that fact to spare your delicate feelings. (The latter, by the way, is why any secretly cherished dreams that he might have been appointed Chief Justice were futile: Bush can work with people who are much, much cleverer him if it suits his purposes, but he deeply resents people who let him know they're cleverer than he is. Sorry, Nino. But I digress.)

Still, there have been those moments when Scalia deserves credit. (And, it goes without saying, I can be condescending enough to point them out, which is very nice of me, too.) Here's one:

If there is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment, it is that the Government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable? Punishing desecration of the flag dilutes the very freedom that makes this emblem so revered, and worth revering. (United States v. Eichman, 1990).

Have you called your senator yet?