Justices Scalia and Kagan recently spoke at the University of Mississippi School of Law, and heaped mounds of praise on each other. Though, I think Nino may have unintentionally slighted Justice Sotomayor:
Scalia, Kagan said, “is funny and charming and super-intelligent and witty.”
“And back atcha,” Scalia quipped, adding that if he had to pick someone for President Obama to appoint, “you’re the very best.”
Scalia still isn’t too keen on dancing with SS. Perhaps he could have meant, that when Stevens retired, and Sotomayor was already on the Court, then Kagan was the “very best.” Maybe.
This reminds me of RBG’s comments that President Obama could not confirm anyone better than her.
Referring to the political polarization in Washington and the unlikelihood that another liberal in her mold could be confirmed by the Senate, Ginsburg, the senior liberal on the nine-member bench, asked rhetorically, “So tell me who the president could have nominated this spring that you would rather see on the court than me?”
This can also be seen as a jab at two Justices who were confirmed with more than 60 votes, and countless other nominees who could also make it through.