As the Supreme thug-justices issue desperate cries for mental-health help, could they take advantage of provisions of the ACA?

Plus: "Scalia Is a Douche" is a brunch hit in Philly


Watch poor Cartoon Justice Nino having his "terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day" at 4:19 of the Daily Show clip below.

by Ken

It's a sweet conceit on the part of the Daily Show animation team to imagine that the Supreme Court's own Big Rat Bastard Justice merely had a "terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day," when what he has really had -- as Jon Stewart suggests in the piece proper, is that he has had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad career.



In my coverage last week of this term's marquis Supreme Court decisions -- the affirmation of Obamacare subsidies announced Thursday and the constitutionally guaranteed right to marriage equality announced Friday -- I mostly ignored the assorted dissenting opinions, for the obvious reason that they were, you know, dissenting opinions, which is to say not the Court's rulings. Howie fortunately devoted a good deal more attention to the opposition, on and off the Court. I say "fortunately" because this matters.

In the case of the ACA subsidies and the justices, it matters because three of them announced that they simply can't read, and by virtue of that admission should be encouraged at the very least to resign from the Court on the grounds that they lack the necessary basic skills for the job. I suppose we could write it off by saying that it was "only" three justices who were unable or unwilling to grasp the simplest, most fundamental facts about the non-case, which had no justification except an ideological hit job commissioned from right-wing ideological lawyerly hit men. But is it really much consolation that "only" three justices have no shame about being either raving imbeciles or principle-free ideological hooligans?

Far worse, of course, was the dreadful cue provided to the nation by the outpouring of not just imbecility but savagery and outright insanity on display from the complement of four thug-justices, with Chief Justice "Smirkin' John" Roberts back on his accustomed team. They screeched like demented beasts in four deranged dissenting opinions assailing the majority opinion on marriage equality written by usual thug-justice cohort "Slow Anthony" Kennedy, which was joined by the Court's four moderate justices. After that display, it's hard to understand how any of these creatures is allowed to roam free in the streets without at least being tested to make sure that whatever afflicts them isn't contagious.

And here we come up, as we frequently do when dealing with the Modern American Right, against the problem common to the stupid and the insane -- that their condition generally renders them incapable of grasping their condition. Not only were the Crackpot Four incapable of recognizing the terrifying extremity of their raving; they failed to notice the chasm that lies between their bizarro, bonkers response and the endless succession of sane, principled dissents filed by the Court's moderates while the thugs have routinely shredded the Constitution, the law, and basic human decency. Yes, occasionally the moderates offer a flash of anger, but far more occasionally than the scope and depth of the provocations they face would prompt. And even then they manage to be respectful -- of unreasoning beasts who might most generously heard to be screaming for mental-health intervention.sda


MEANWHILE IN PHILADELPHIA, "ANTONIN SCALIA
IS A DOUCHE" IS A HIT AS A BREAKFAST SPECAL

[Click to enlarge.]

As HuffPost's d3clark put it, "Antonin Scalia is toast - literally and figuratively"). Even if you're a habitué of Sam's Morning Glory Diner on S. 10th St. in the South Philly neighborhood of Bella Vista ("Everything we serve is mindfully made from scratch with the freshest of ingredients"), you had to be a timely bruncher this weekend to catch the specials put on the menu by the diner's weekend-specials specialist, Sean Gaittens, with the enthusiastic approval of owner Carol Mickey: a pair of " 'The Supreme Court Finally Got It Right' Quiches" (one for meat-eaters, one for vegetarians) and an "Antonin Scalia Is A Douche Special" offered two ways, as an egg scramble or a frittata.

"The Supreme Court Finally Got It Right" Quiches
Your choice of two different quiches: one for the vegetarians among us and one for those who have chest hair. Meatie Quiche - A quiche with tomatoes, prosciutto (fresh from the Italian market!), spinach and brie cheese. Veggie Quiche - One with asparagus, onion, parsley, basil and oregano for some added flavoring and topped with smoked mozzarella - either one comes served with your choice of potatoes or a small house salad. 13/12

The Antonin Scalia Is A Douche Special Scrambled
A hefty portion of scrambled eggs mixed with andouille sausage, tomato, scallions and monetary [sic] jack cheese - comes served with potatoes or grits and a homemade buttermilk biscuit (toast can be subbed form .75 extra) 13

The Antonin Scalia Is A Douche Special Frittata
Same as above but served as a frittata. 14

According to BillyPenn.com's Danya Henninger:

Over the weekend, Sam’s Morning Glory Diner ran a pair of specials that sold out faster than any dish in the South Philly restaurant’s 17-year history. It wasn’t the ingredients that made them a hit — although they were reportedly delicious — it was their titles, which referenced the Supreme Court’s historic June 26 ruling that the right to same-sex marriage is guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.

The “Antonin Scalia is a Douche” special brought eggs scrambled or in a frittata with andouille sausage, tomato, scallions and monterey jack cheese. There was enough sausage to make around 150 of the dish, and it was so popular on Saturday that it sold out by 10 AM on Sunday morning, within two hours of the doors opening.

“The Supreme Court Finally Got It Right” quiches — with tomatoes, prosciutto, spinach and brie or all veg with asparagus, onion and smoked mozz — sold out even more quickly.

Danya noted that Mickey’s husband asked later if she'd been afraid of offending anyone, and she said she hadn't -- "if someone was offended, she didn’t need them as a customer." The, and "is personally familiar with the issues marriage inequality can cause," told BillyPenn: "Not one single person complained. The atmosphere in here was really wonderful. People were just loving saying it! 'I'll have the Scalia Is a Douche, please.' "

HuffPost's d3clark suggests that the "breakfasts are much more easily digested than Scalia's opinions." They do sound mighty tasty. It's probably fortunate that Justice Nino wasn't among the diners. He could have eaten the entire supply single-gluttonously.




SPEAKING OF THE SUPREME COURT --

We still have to take account of the surprisingly large amount of Court business held in reserve for release following the two blockbuster decisions, lending them something of the quality of a "Supreme Court dump." Probably for this reason we should be scrutinizing this stuff more closely, even though the rulings don't seem ominous as one might fear, the obvious exception being the slapdown of the EPA, making one wonder if that agency, so high on the Right-Wing Hate List, is now in the thug-justices' crosshairs.

Well, there are also the announcemenst that the Court will be hearing a case involving mandatory dues collection for public-sector unions and will be revisiting the University of Texas's use of affirmative in admissions policy. There's the potential for much mischief here.

Maybe tomorrow.

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