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Hornswaggle is an alternate spelling of hornswoggle, an archaic word that means to bamboozle or hoodwink. I take my pronunciation from the late Harvey Korman in "Blazing Saddles" -- "I want rustlers, cutthroats, murderers, bounty hunters, desperados, mugs, pugs, thugs, nitwits, halfwits, dimwits, vipers, snipers, conmen, Indian agents, Mexican bandits, muggers, buggerers, bushwhackers, hornswagglers, horse thieves, bull dykes, train robbers, bank robbers, ass kickers, shit kickers and Methodists!" |
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Wednesday, April 28, 2004Supreme Court Justice Antonin "Doo Doo Face" Scalia is breaking it down for us in the hearing on whether ol' Dick Cheney ought to let us know with whom his Energy Task Force met while drawing up the plan for American energy policy.The administration has cited executive privilege in refusing to turn over a list and Scalia, apparently, agrees. Here's an excerpt of what he had to say from this AP story: ' "I think executive privilege means whenever the president feels that he is threatened, he can simply refuse to comply with a court order," Scalia told Morrison in one exchange. "He has the power … to say, 'No, this intrudes too much upon my powers. I will not do it.' " The justice added that the president should not even be forced to fight the issue before a judge. ' "If you view executive privilege that way, forcing [Bush] to assert executive privilege is really pushing things to an extreme that should not very often occur in this republic," Scalia said.' Let me see if I can sort through all the fancy legalese. Whenever a president feels threatened, he can refuse to comply with a court order? In any case where a political opponent threatens the power of a president, he can simply flout the law of the land? It's a nuanced position. It's a strong position. But let me ask you this, Mr. Scalia. What if the president is like the sweaty, chain-smoking businessman played by Martin Short on "Saturday Night Live," who was known to say, "I'm not being defensive. You're the one being defensive." Then you might run into a problem, if your president felt constantly threatened. Something to ponder, Antonin. .: posted by hornswaggler 1:24 PM| |
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