Hal O'Brien

Here's Steven Pinker in the New York Times writing a good piece on Chief Justice John Roberts' lapse when giving the oath of office to Mr. Obama the other day. It's not a bad theory -- that Roberts is a grammar weenie of the variety who thinks he can re-write quotes to suit his own beliefs (as it's claimed he's done with Dylan, for example).

But I can't help thinking Nino Scalia probably ribbed Roberts about, "Expounding a 'living constitution' and revising on the fly, eh?" And for once, Scalia would have a point.

UPDATED TO ADD: Ye Olde Comical sez: "Two previous presidents, Chester Arthur and Calvin Coolidge, retook their oaths under similar circumstances."

So.

You're the Vice President of the United States. You ran a task force regarding energy policy about which a great number want to know how you came to divide the spoils of Iraq before the war arrived at your decisions.

After stonewalling Congressional and other requests for information, a court case develops turning on the question of whether you can withhold taxpayer-funded data from other branches of government. It gets appealed, all the way to the Supreme Court.

What do you do?

Why, take your buddy Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia on a private duck hunt in Louisiana, of course. Oh, and a private dinner with Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld as a third, in Maryland.

No, wait... It gets better.

From the AP/Advocate article:

"MORGAN CITY -- Vice President Dick Cheney and Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia spent part of this week on a private duck hunting trip with friends in the marshes south Louisiana.

Both shot their bag limits on Tuesday three mallards and three teal, Sheriff David Naquin said.

The pair and their entourage arrived in Morgan City on Monday on a pair of Gulfstream V jets.

Ken Perry, an official at Harry P. Williams Memorial Airport, said, "It just sent chills up my spine" when he heard on the radio that Air Force 2 was on approach. Any airplane carrying the vice president is generally dubbed Air Force 2."

OK, let's stop right there.

1) Is this a private trip, or an official trip? If it's private, then somebody paid for those Gulfstreams. Cheney made millions with Halliburton, so he could have... Except, that would be a private gift to a judge sitting on a case in which he's a prinicpal. Forget the socializing aspect, which is bad enough, gifts big enough to involve 1000-mile joyrides (DC to Morgan City) are what you might call a no-no.

2) On the other hand, if those are Air Force jets -- which would make them C-37As, not Gulfstream Vs, as such -- then Cheney and Scalia were pilfering Federal assets for personal use. I don't think that plays much better.

Oh, and Scalia's salary as a Supreme Court Associate Justice is in the mid-$160,000 range. So it's not like he could have afforded to pay for a private jet on a whim of his own.

Let's go on.

"Cheney and Scalia were guests of Wallace Carline, owner of Diamond Services in Amelia, St. Mary Parish Sheriff David Naquin said. They left Wednesday."

Diamond Services' web site may be browsed here. There's also a contact list, with Mr. Carline's direct e-mail address, if you're at all curious about asking him some questions.

Now... Guess what Diamond Services does as a business.

No, go ahead -- guess.

"Diamond Services Corporation is recognized for its expertise in the fields of dredging, pile driving, salvage work, fabrication, pipe rolling capability, and general oilfield construction."

So, regardless of the cost and provenance of the plane ride, Scalia and Cheney both received hunting access and time from a company directly effected by Cheney's task force's policies.

I'm not done yet.

25 miles driving distance from Diamond Services' spread in Amelia is a town called Houma, Louisiana.

Care to guess what company has a subsidiary in Houma? No peeking...

From Halliburton's web site:

Halliburton Energy Services
131 Clendenning Rd
Houma, LA 70363

PO Box 8037
Houma, LA 70360

985 857 3800
985 857 3837

Still not done.

Let's go back to the AP/Advocate story:

"(Sheriff) Naquin said Scalia has made several hunting trips to the parish."

"Several". Presumably as the guest of Mr. Carline.

Doesn't that all just make you feel warm and fuzzy all over?

(When Ulrika heard about this early on with the first story, her reaction was, "I guess that means Scalia's been in Cheney's pocket all along. That explains a lot.")

(Yes, it certainly does.)

You can see a different take on all this from the Los Angeles Times, including some replies from Scalia. I've held off on that because the LA Times requires registration, and the article will go behind a paid archive soon.