Ten Reasons Not to Sentimentally Eulogize Antonin Scalia

I'm not going to speak ill of Antonin Scalia, who died on Saturday, by making the obvious comments that his detractors made while he was alive.  Perish the thought.  I'm just going to use his own quotes against him:

"Certainly the Constitution does not require discrimination on the basis of sex. The only issue is whether it prohibits it. It doesn't."

"If we cannot have moral feelings against homosexuality, can we have it against murder? Can we have it against other things?"

"Obviously the [Second] Amendment does not apply to arms that cannot be hand-carried - it’s to keep and 'bear,' so it doesn’t apply to cannons - but I suppose here are hand-held rocket launchers that can bring down airplanes, that will have to be decided."

"I think [support for the Voting Rights Act] is attributable, very likely attributable, to a phenomenon that is called perpetuation of racial entitlement. It’s been written about. Whenever a society adopts racial entitlements, it is very difficult to get out of them through the normal political processes. I don’t think there is anything to be gained by any Senator to vote against continuation of this act.   And I am fairly confident it will be re-enacted in perpetuity unless - unless a court can say it does not comport with the Constitution."

"I don't care who is doing the speech - the more the merrier. People are not stupid. If they don't like it, they'll shut it off." (on the Citizens United ruling)

"The death penalty? It's easy. Give me a break. It's easy. Abortion? Absolutely easy. [. . .] Nobody ever thought the Constitution prevented restrictions on abortion."

"Who ever thought that intimacy and spirituality - whatever that means -  were freedoms? And if intimacy is, one would think freedom of intimacy is abridged rather than expanded by marriage.  Ask the nearest hippie." (dissenting against the ruling allowing same-sex marriage)

"There are . . . those who contend that it does not benefit African-Americans to get them into the University of Texas where they do not do well, as opposed to having them go to a less­-advanced school, a less - a slower-track school where they do well.  One of. . . the briefs pointed out that - that most of the . . . black scientists in this country don’t come from schools like the University of Texas. They come from lesser schools where they do not feel that they’re – that they’re being pushed ahead in- in classes that are too fast for them." (on higher-education affirmative-action programs)

"The body of scientific evidence supporting creation science is as strong as that supporting evolution. In fact, it may be stronger. . .. The evidence for evolution is far less compelling than we have been led to believe. Evolution is not a scientific fact, since it cannot actually be observed in a laboratory. Rather, evolution is merely a scientific theory or guess. . .. It is a very bad guess at that. The scientific problems with evolution are so serious that it could accurately be termed a myth."

"Why can't the state accede to the public's wishes?"

Scalia's death came four days after the Court blocked implementation of emissions regulations necessary to the health of the planet and to the survival of an international agreement regarding the planet.  If there is a God in heaven, Scalia has a lot to answer for right now.