title:  BOMBSHELL: Scalia Wanted A Liberal On The Court
text: Ever since the passing of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, pretty much everyone has chimed in with an opinion of what should happen next. Republicans want President Obama to hold off on nominating anyone. They are skillfully maneuvering their language to say that the nation should wait for the next president. While everyone with common sense and a basic understanding of the Constitution understands it s the president s job to pick someone new.The next question would obviously be,  who should that someone be? Well, as it turns out, Justice Scalia often voiced his opinion on this matter. As President Obama s senior adviser David Axelrod pointed out on CNN, after Justice Souter announced his retirement, Scalia knew exactly who he wanted as a replacement.Axelrod sat with Scalia during a previous White House Correspondents Dinner, and as they sat, they discussed who Scalia would like to see on the court. Scalia told him: I have no illusions that your man will nominate someone who shares my orientation. But I hope he sends us someone smart. But he wasn t done. Continuing, he said: Let me put a finer point on it. I hope he sends us Elena Kagan. Seemingly surprised by this pick, Axelrod wrote on CNN: I was surprised that a member of the court would so bluntly propose a nominee, and intrigued that it was Kagan, the former Harvard Law School dean who was appointed solicitor general by Obama to represent the government before the Supreme Court. Though she had worked on policy in the Clinton administration and had a reputation for pragmatism, Kagan plainly would be a liberal in the context of the court. And although Obama went on to pick Justice Sotomayor, later when Justice John Paul Stevens retired, Kagan got her chance, and undoubtedly Scalia was pleased.Justice Scalia was a conservative through and through on matters of everything policy. However, he was able to maintain very close friendships with those whom he worked with and was close to, even those whose leanings were far more liberal. Axelrod even pointed out: During her confirmation meetings with senators, Kagan had vowed to go hunting to allay their concerns about her cultural awareness on the issue of guns. When she joined the court, she asked her friend, Scalia, to take her. The two, who occasionally shot intellectual darts at each other on paper, became regular, if unlikely, hunting partners. Thus proving that no matter how opposite some may be on matters of policy, those on the highest court in the land were still able to hold friendships and work together despite their differences. A lesson many in Washington probably still need to learn.It s also surprising that Scalia would talk about who he wanted with the president s senior adviser. He clearly wanted Kagan as his pick. Otherwise he probably would ve kept it to himself. This definitely shines a new light on Scalia, a man whose decisions have ranged from racist to homophobic to misogynistic to sometimes outright cruel. However, he clearly favored balance in the court, and for that, he needs to be respected.Featured image: Flickr