Justice Scalia flips the finger in church

UPI ^ | March 27, 2006 | UPI

[CrawDaddyCA]

BOSTON, March 27 (UPI) -- U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia startled reporters in Boston just minutes after attending a mass, by flipping a middle finger to his critics.

A Boston Herald reporter asked the 70-year-old conservative Roman Catholic if he faces much questioning over impartiality when it comes to issues separating church and state.

"You know what I say to those people?" Scalia replied, making the obscene gesture and explaining "That's Sicilian."

The 20-year veteran of the high court was caught making the gesture by a photographer with The Pilot, the Archdiocese of Boston's newspaper.

"Don't publish that," Scalia told the photographer, the Herald said.

He was attending a special mass for lawyers and politicians at Cathedral of the Holy Cross, and afterward was the keynote speaker at the Catholic Lawyers' Guild luncheon.

[CrawDaddyCA]

LOL!! My admiration of Justice Scalia increases with every article he's mentioned in.

[thoughtomator]

Hey, they gotta respect his culture. Diversity, tolerance, and all that, y'know.

[Always Right]

[SF Republican]

Saw Rummy do the same thing recently; the reporter asked what he had to say to his critics, he rubbed his forehead with his middle finger and then gave a verbal reply!

[ArrogantBustard]

It's crude and vulgar.

If not overused, crudeness and vulgarity can be exactly the right response.

[Galveston Grl]

Left wing bigot pretending to be a journalist harasses Catholic Supreme Court Justice in church.

[My2Cents]

No, he was just indicating that he's #1.

[BallyBill]

The photographer, "He sleeps with the fishes"

[Dinsdale]

He was attending a special mass for lawyers and politicians at Cathedral of the Holy Cross

Do they have special masses for other types of criminals as well?

[admiralsn]

I agree.

As with Vice President Cheney's statement to Leaky Leahy- "F___ You!"

[jimmyo57]

Nice!

[CrawDaddyCA]

That's a good question. One would expect them to burst into flames the second they stepped through the door!

[mlc9852]

"He was attending a special mass for lawyers and politicians"

Got to be a few good jokes in there somewhere!

[Incorrigible]

Acually it wasn't a middle finger, it was the gesture of uncurling your fingers from a fist to an open hand under your chin.

Forget what it means though. I'm a Mick not a Gumba.

[joebuck]

I read an article on this earlier this weekend and that article said that Scalia just stroked his fingers under his chin in the old Italian flip off - not giving the finger. I wonder which it really was.

[wallcrawlr]

Nice job Scalia.

I say print the photo so Freepers can photoshop it.

[Publius6961]

If not overused, crudeness and vulgarity can be exactly the right response.

I absolutely agree with you.
Muslims freaking out over words and gestures? No biggie.

Real people? Not in my universe!

[dighton]

... just minutes after attending a mass ...

Which is it, “minutes after attending a mass” or “in church”?

[American Quilter]

Left wing bigot pretending to be a journalist harasses Catholic Supreme Court Justice in church.

I couldn't have said it any better.

[ArrogantBustard]

I believe that the gesture you describe has roughly the same meaning as "The Finger".

[pollyannaish]

Oh my goodness. I'm shocked. Or not. LOL.

[Incorrigible]

This is one definition I found:

Chin Flick: The chin flick signifies a person is "Not interested," or it can be telling a pesky person "Buzz off," in Italy. In Brazil and Paraguay it means, "I don't know."

[pabianice]

[admiralsn]

I guess the media lefties want to try to equate this gesture "after leaving church" with Billy Boy Clinton leaving church hand-in-hand with his "wife," switching the Bible to the VISIBLE side, and then having a WH intern service him as soon as he got back.

[pabianice]

Strange... UPI never reported about Hillary running-down a police officer in her limosene ("Do you know who I am?????")

[NRA2BFree]

Of all places, in Church. You gotta love him. LOL!

[IronJack]

The "brush beneath the chin" gesture is not the same as "flipping the bird." If I read this right, all Scalia did was brush the back of his fingers under his chin, which may mean the same thing as "the bird," but has a completely different origin. In any case, it's not particularly obscene, and I don't think it carries quite the same nonverbal weight as a one-finger salute.

[IamConservative]

"Acually it wasn't a middle finger, it was the gesture of uncurling your fingers from a fist to an open hand under your chin. Forget what it means though. I'm a Mick not a Gumba."

That's what I heard as well. In my neighborhood the jesture means to "kiss off" in a polite manner of speaking.

Big difference between that jesture and flipping someone off.

[Wolfie]

Classy.

[xrp]

Shoot, I'll do this on demand for the MSM! Why can't I get photographers following my every step?

[LoveDoc]

I wonder when liberals will get it that we are NOT your 'father's conservatives.'

In reality liberals just try to game it, feigning shock when stuff like this (or cheney-leahy) happen, but then call us mambly-pambly choir boys if we don't stand up.

No matter.

It's just about over for those sissified liberals anyway.

Even they run from the label...

[Mamzelle]

re: He was attending a special mass for lawyers and politicians)))

Well, I have to chuckle just at this line...

[pop-gun]

I remember Jenna doing that....It was perfect....

Really nothing can top a pretty girl showing her utter disdain for the crumballs of the press.

[Sonny M]

As with Vice President Cheney's statement to Leaky Leahy- "F___ You!"

Cheney didn't actually use those exact words.

His exact words were "Go F____ yourself".

[Mamzelle]

re: He was attending a special mass for lawyers and politicians)))

Well, I have to chuckle just at this line...

[cinives]

It's because lawyers and politicos lie so much that they need special forgiveness...

[IamConservative]

"He was attending a special mass for lawyers and politicians" Got to be a few good jokes in there somewhere!

That would crowd reduce the 10 commandments to six. The ones anout lying, cheating, stealing and committing adultry are out the window with this crowd.

[dubyawhoiluv]

I sent a thank you card to v.p cheney for all that he does and to please repeat his suggestions to the other lying demorats I got a very nice card and letter with a signed pic, made my day!!!!!!

[A.A. Cunningham]

Judicial intemperance - Scalia flips message to doubting Thomases

Antonin Scalia leaves the Cathedral of the Holy Cross yesterday. (Staff photo by Mark Garfinkel)

[Daytyn71]

Brilliant!! Go Scalia!!

[Skooz]

Love the guy.

Wish we had 8 more just like him.

[Boston Blackie]

Actually he did not flip the bird....he issued the Italian Salute which is far more classier...a 4 finger swipe under the chin in a forward motion...More meaningful then flipping the bird.

[Beauceron]

Good for him.

Can you imagine a reporter asking a secularist or atheist judge the same question? Why is bias only assumed if the judge is a practicing christian, after all the same bias could exist-- the difference is the reporter would agree with the secularist bias.

[stuartcr]

Boy, just think if someone in Clintons cabinet did that, or a liberal justice!!!

[Mamzelle]

Isn't that the gesture that Brando was forever making in the first Godfather? I didn't realize it had any kind of meaning. I just thought the cotton in his mouth was bothering him.

[Petronski]

You fell victim to one of the classic blunders! The most famous is never get involved in a land war in Asia, but only slightly less well-known is this: never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line!   --Vizzini

[The_Victor]

Do they have special masses for other types of criminals as well?

It's a necessity in the case of lawyers and politicians. The absolution part of the service takes forever with this group.

[Boston Blackie]

It is the insult of insults.

[hosepipe]

[ Saw Rummy do the same thing recently; the reporter asked what he had to say to his critics, he rubbed his forehead with his middle finger and then gave a verbal reply! ]

LoL.............