I absolutely support the right of a Supreme Court Justice, and the Vice President, to say “fuck you.” We know we live in obscene times, and actual verbal obscenities aren’t the half of it.
I’m more troubled by the character it shows to say later, “no, I didn’t say or do that.” To deny one’s own actions — that’s cowardly.
And, while Scalia doesn’t claim to be a moral leader like the dishonorable Wm. “The Gambler” Bennett, he is one of our Eight Supreme Cardinals. And a hunting buddy of Dead-eye Dick Cheney, who makes no pretense whatsoever of being a moral guy.
And, to all the xenophobes and Radical Righters worried about the influx of foreigners: what does it say about assimilation when one of the most powerful Americans swears and gestures in a foreign language? Can’t we pass a law requiring public servants to swear in English, for god’s sake? mjh
Photographer: Herald got it right By Marie Szaniszlo
Amid a growing national controversy about the gesture U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia made Sunday at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, the freelance photographer who captured the moment has come forward with the picture.
“It’s inaccurate and deceptive of him to say there was no vulgarity in the moment,” said Peter Smith, the Boston University assistant photojournalism professor who made the shot. …
Smith said the jurist “immediately knew he’d made a mistake, and said, ‘You’re not going to print that, are you?’ ” …
Smith was working as a freelance photographer for the Boston archdiocese’s weekly newspaper at a special Mass for lawyers Sunday when a Herald reporter asked the justice how he responds to critics who might question his impartiality as a judge given his public worship.
“The judge paused for a second, then looked directly into my lens and said, ‘To my critics, I say, ‘Vaffanculo,’ ” punctuating the comment by flicking his right hand out from under his chin, Smith said.
The Italian phrase means “(expletive) you.”
Yesterday, Herald reporter Laurel J. Sweet agreed with Smith’s account, but said she did not hear Scalia utter the obscenity.
Church fires photog over Scalia picture: Freelancer pays for ‘right thing’ By Jessica Heslam
A freelance photographer has been fired by the Archdiocese of Boston’s newspaper for releasing a picture of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia making a controversial gesture in the Cathedral of the Holy Cross on Sunday.