For the Record: Justice Scalia Is Less Cool Than We Thought
In response to our earlier post about Justice Scalia making an obscene gesture just after attending Mass, a reader sent us this message:
After reading the article, I don’t think it was the bird. Try this:In the grand scheme of Italian gestures, it’s sorta tame. I have seen it interpreted anywhere from “you’re boring” to “I don’t give a fuck.” Either works here. As my union friends used to say, “What are you gonna do, take away my birthday?”
The Herald article is a little vague, but we’re inclined to agree with this reader: Justice Scalia’s gesture wasn’t a full-fledged flipping of the proverbial bird. But it still wasn’t exactly the most polite of actions; in some quarters, it could be interpreted as pretty darn close to giving someone the middle finger. So we will downgrade Nino a few levels on both the vulgarity and coolness scales.
Even after the downgrade, Justice Scalia is still way cooler than any of the other justices. Could you imagine any of his colleagues engaging in such a gesture? Yeah, we didn’t think so. (Of course, the justice most likely to be familiar with such a gesture — Justice Samuel Alito, the other Italian-American member of the Court — is way too mild-mannered to indulge in such behavior.)
Italian Hand Gestures: Gesture 26 [About.com]
Earlier: Guess Nino Didn’t Give Up Cursing for Lent
READ MORE: SCOTUS, antonin scalia, corrections, for the record, obscene gestures, samuel alito, supreme court, top
Maybe he will flip the bird from the bench in response to the request that he recuse himself. That would be cool.
by wonkwonk on 03/27/06 08:44 PM
I'm sorry, wait a minute, did you suggest that Justice Scalia was the coolest member of the court. This is a very sad assessment on the state of the court, frankly, when Scalia is the coolest. And the Italian hand gesture? Flipping the bird would be way so lame for the variety and nuances of Italian hand gestures. Personally, I like that one where you smack your other arm at the elbow, and just bring the whole hand up. Now, if Scalia had done that...THAT would have been cool.
by callie on 03/27/06 10:34 PM
here in Boston's Italian neighborhood, that chin flick bit is pretty rude, but yeah the elbox slapping whole forearm one is worse, perhaps with some sort of thumb biting flourish at the end?
by DanZarrella on 03/28/06 09:40 AM
let's see, an overweight italian-american named tony with a fuck-you/va-fa-napole attitude, who loves guns and is afraid of being recorded, who rules with impunity. awesome. can we put this guy in a coma too?
by floater on 03/28/06 11:43 AM
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