I was going to make a list titled 9 Things Justice Scalia said in his New York Magazine interview.

Most interviews with Supreme Court Justices are not even worth that. The Justices say such predictable things that I might pull out the most interesting thing or, not finding one, I skip blogging it altogether. But this interview by Jennifer Senior is so good (and long) that as I read it (before getting out of bed just now) I decided I'd pull out 9 items (the number 9 pops into my head when I'm thinking about Supreme Court Justices) and do something like:

1. He calls DVDs "CDs" (and the "CDs" in question are episodes of "Seinfeld").

2. He thinks "blurbing" on the internet is narcissistic and interferes with the process of becoming a good writer.

3. He's most proud of his opinion in Morrison v. Olson (where he's the lone dissenter in the decision that found the Independent Counsel law constitutional).

4. He thinks Congress is truly dangerous — if only it would actually use the powers it has.

5. He's not "a fan of different levels of scrutiny" in constitutional interpretation.

6. He believes in the Devil, because it's Catholic doctrine, but maybe because it's a helpful metaphor.

7. He plays poker, claims to be good at poker, but is unfamiliar with the term "tell."

8. He has friends that he knows or "very much suspect[s]" are homosexual, and doesn't like the interviewer's suggestion that — re homosexuality — he's "softened."

9. To imitate Rehnquist, he "turns his nose up theatrically, flutters his hand in dismissal."

There are more than 9 things worth treating that way...

10. You have to be very careful picking law clerks because "one dud will ruin your year."

11. His dissents have the tone they do — "breezy" and with "some thrust" — because they're written for law students and law students will read that sort of thing.

12. Back in the 80s, Supreme Court opinions were loaded with the "garbage" of legislative history (and they're not anymore, and he takes credit for that).

13. He wants the Catholic Church to be more evangelistic.

14. He blames "The Gipper" for turning the State of the Union Address into the "childish spectacle" it's become.

15. He likes Bill Bennett's radio show.

16. He won't read The Washington Post anymore because it became so "shrilly, shrilly liberal" that he can't "handle it."

17. The worst thing about the Constitution, he thinks, is that it's way too hard to amend it.

18. He "repudiate[s]" his old statement that his originalism is "fainthearted."

But I decided (at the point of finally getting out of bed) that I wanted to do a series of posts on a number of topics, taking them on individually and blogging — or blurbing — my way through and going somewhere with the idea. It's the Devil topic in particular that made me want to do that. I know there are people who are linking to this interview just to say Scalia believes in the Devil, but — is the Devil making me do this? — I feel there's a lot in his discussion of the Devil that needs to be taken apart and examined. The blog will blurb and burble.

ADDED: Here's the promised Devil post. And here's a post about a topic that isn't represented on that list of 18 things.

"Let’s make sure that a high school diploma puts our kids on the path to a good job."

"Right now, countries like Germany focus on graduating their high school students with the equivalent of a technical degree from one of our community colleges."

Watching the State of the Union with Scott Walker who "offers a Mystery Science Theater-style running commentary."

It's Stephen Hayes of the Weekly Standard, eating roast beef sandwiches and deviled eggs in the finished basement of the Wisconsin Governor's Mansion.

Obama: “Let’s agree, right here, right now, to keep the people’s government open, pay our bills on time, and always uphold the full faith and credit of the United States of America.” (Walker: “To pay your bills on time means you don’t spend more than you have.”)

Much more at the link.

The State of the Union "has turned into a childish spectacle."

"I don’t want to be there to lend dignity to it," said Justice Scalia.

A State of the Union quiz.

Did Obama ever intone the standard phrase "The state of the Union is..." and if so, what word followed "is"? (There's a hint in the tags.)


Yes, he did, and the word was "stronger." Did you notice that "stronger" was a key word? Here are its iterations:

Tonight, thanks to the grit and determination of the American people, there is much progress to report.... Our housing market is healing, our stock market is rebounding, and consumers, patients, and homeowners enjoy stronger protections than ever before.

Together, we have cleared away the rubble of crisis, and can say with renewed confidence that the state of our union is stronger....

Our economy is stronger when we harness the talents and ingenuity of striving, hopeful immigrants....

We know our economy is stronger when our wives, mothers, and daughters can live their lives free from discrimination in the workplace, and free from the fear of domestic violence....

We know our economy is stronger when we reward an honest day’s work with honest wages....

Stronger families. Stronger communities. A stronger America.

Coincidentally, just the other day Kelly Clarkson won the Best Pop Vocal Album Grammy for her album "Stronger."

So let's just say Barack Obama wins the Best Pop Political Speech for his SOTU "Stronger."

"What America needs is not Robin Hood but Adam Smith."

Rand Paul delivers the SOTU response from the Tea Party.

State of the Union.

Talk about it here. The Supreme Court Justices: Roberts, Kennedy, Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan are all there. No Scalia, Thomas, or Alito.

1. Obama's voice seems strange. Here's the full text of the speech, by the way. You don't really need to sit through all of this.

2. "So let’s set party interests aside..."

3. "[D]eficit reduction alone is not an economic plan. A growing economy that creates good, middle-class jobs – that must be the North Star that guides our efforts."

4. "A year and a half ago, I put forward an American Jobs Act that independent economists said would create more than one million new jobs. I thank the last Congress for passing some of that agenda, and I urge this Congress to pass the rest." That gets a huge laugh from Biden, and we laugh a lot at Biden laughing so much.

5. "After shedding jobs for more than 10 years... " I say: "Shedding? Maybe we should go back to the dog show." (I've got the SOTU and the Westminster Dog Show recording on the DVR. We can go where we want. I love that Tibetan Mastiff!)

6. Climate change. "Heat waves, droughts, wildfires, and floods – all are now more frequent and intense. We can choose to believe that Superstorm Sandy, and the most severe drought in decades, and the worst wildfires some states have ever seen were all just a freak coincidence. Or we can choose to believe in the overwhelming judgment of science – and act before it’s too late." What?! What is the overwhelming judgment of science? He merely gave the impression of making an assertion. That's not the attitude of science.

7. "I’m also issuing a new goal for America: let’s cut in half the energy wasted by our homes and businesses over the next twenty years." There's a modest goal. Why not cut all waste?

8. "Today, the Senate passed the Violence Against Women Act that Joe Biden originally wrote almost 20 years ago." Closeup on Biden, who looks elderly.

9. We should do "more to encourage fatherhood – because what makes you a man isn’t the ability to conceive a child; it’s having the courage to raise one."

10. "And by the end of next year, our war in Afghanistan will be over."

11. Closeup on John Kerry. I say: "He looks different." Meade says he had plastic surgery.

12. "Overwhelming majorities of Americans – Americans who believe in the 2nd Amendment..." support all sorts of gun control. "[I]n the two months since Newtown, more than a thousand birthdays, graduations, and anniversaries have been stolen from our lives by a bullet from a gun."

13. "But we were never sent here to be perfect. We were sent here to make what difference we can, to secure this nation, expand opportunity, and uphold our ideals through the hard, often frustrating, but absolutely necessary work of self-government."

14. Biggest cheer of the night: a 102-year-old lady who waited in line 6 hours to vote.

15. Weirdly, there's no cheering at all after the description of the police officer at the Sikh temple shooting, Brian Murphy, who who kept fighting "even as he lay bleeding from twelve bullet wounds. When asked how he did that, Brian said, 'That’s just the way we’re made.'" That was the last anecdote of the night.

16. "Thank you, God bless you, and God bless the United States of America."