Trip With Cheney Puts Ethics Spotlight on ScaliaWhat he MEANT to say was, "I do not think my impartiality will reasonably be questioned."
Friends hunt ducks together, even as the justice is set to hear the vice president's case.
WASHINGTON — Vice President Dick Cheney and Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia spent part of last week duck hunting together at a private camp in southern Louisiana just three weeks after the court agreed to take up the vice president's appeal in lawsuits over his handling of the administration's energy task force.
While Scalia and Cheney are avid hunters and longtime friends, several experts in legal ethics questioned the timing of their trip and said it raised doubts about Scalia's ability to judge the case impartially.
But Scalia rejected that concern Friday, saying, "I do not think my impartiality could reasonably be questioned."
To quote Alan who sent this along: "I wasn't going to comment on or pass along this story, but then I thought, That's what they want; they want to wear us down, they want their critics to shrug in tired acceptance and stop pointing to their mistakes or misdeeds... I can't do it... I can't stop..."
We know the feeling all too well around here.
