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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Parking fine, sidewalk blocking, panhandling ordinances up for discussion ... Hollywood-themed '12th Night' is Oscar worthy ... Case of dead eagles lands in Ashland ... Parking fine, sidewalk blocking, panhandling ordinances up for discussion ... Hollywood-themed '12th Night' is Oscar worthy ... Case of dead eagles lands in Ashland ... COMMENTARY Jeffrey Gillespie: Antonin Scalia, ex post facto Comment DailyTidings.com Writer Posted Feb. 19, 2016 at 12:01 AM Posted Feb. 19, 2016 at 12:01 AM » Social News "I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure." That quote, by Clarence Darrow, perfectly sums up this columnist's feeling on the demise of Antonin Scalia, Supreme Court justice, lion of the right and scourge of liberal ideas over more than 3 decades on the high court. He died this week, aged 79, at a hunting resort in West Texas. The impact of Scalia's reign reads like an homage to the conservative agenda. During his tenure, the court handed down rulings as widely influential as Citizens United, wherein unlimited money for political influence suddenly took on the benevolent garb of "free speech"; Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, wherein closely held corporations were rendered exempt from the Obamacare contraception mandate; and, most infamously, Bush v. Gore, wherein the court essentially chose the next president of the United States in 2000. In reviewing just those three cases, any sentient person can appreciate the immense power of Scalia's vote on the court. Many on the left would also suggest that he is the most destructive individual ever to have worn the robes of justice. Through Scalia's direct actions, President Bush rose to the penultimate position of power in the world. From that bully pulpit came the infamous WMD debacle, which lit the fuse on the Iraq War, the consequences of which continue to plague the United States to this day. While Scalia has always worn the fig leaf of federalist interpretation to justify his decisions (a philosophy which promotes strict textualist adherence to the Constitution when interpreting the law), his decisions as a whole have been far more indicative of the sort of old-school, illiberal, misogynist views abandoned by most sensible people since the turn of the century. As such, Scalia, a legitimately brilliant jurist, from his august perch on the rostrum, has watched the world pass him by. While conservatives of a bygone era continued to cheer for Scalia (who they attempted to humanize by citing his love of opera and passion for hunting), much of the rest of the contemporary judiciary saw a man from the past, whose Reagan-era mentality seemed ever poised to quash dissent from the left. While he is, of course, not entirely to blame, it is likely Scalia's face that is most immediately pictured by leftists and moderates when they are presented with a recent poll from Gallup that tells us, for the first time in history, that more Americans disapprove of the Supreme Court than approve of it. Luckily for liberals, President Obama now has nearly an entire year to push a more moderate or left-leaning nominee through an already rabidly defensive GOP Senate. And while Republican lawmakers are taking every option they can think of to derail the president from his constitutional obligation, they are caught in a double bind. Approve an Obama nominee, and risk the ire of their more conservative base come November. Filibuster and stall, and come off looking like obstructionists to an electorate that has long since tired of Washington gridlock. The last thing the Republicans want to see is a melee that reminds voters of the standoff seen during the Gingrich-Clinton government shutdown of 1995-1996 — a shutdown that ultimately boosted Bill Clinton in the public eye, and may do the same for his presidential candidate wife in the 2016 election year. Scalia may, in death, end up being as pestiferous to the political process as he was in life. For now, what strange fruit might emerge from the vacuum he has left in Washington remains to be seen. Ashland resident Jeffrey Gillespie is a Daily Tidings columnist and freelance writer. Email him at gillespie.jeffrey @gmail.com. 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