Now that the sex lives of Supreme Court justices have become grist for commentators, we are finally free to discuss a question formerly only whispered about in the shadows: Why does Justice Antonin Scalia, by common consent the leading intellectual force on the Court, have nine children? Is this normal? Or should I say “normal,” as some people choose to define it? Can he represent the views of ordinary Americans when he practices such a minority lifestyle? After all, having nine children is far more unusual in this country than, say, being a lesbian.
Let me be clear: the issue is not the fact that Scalia has chosen to have nine children. That is his personal business. The question is whether he is an extremist advocate of the so-called “Nine Children Agenda.” Can he deal open-mindedly with children’s issues when he has so many himself?
…but this isn’t the first time questions have been raised about Justice Scalia’s controversial sex practices.
The question is whether he is an extremist advocate of the so-called “Nine Children Agenda.” Can he deal open-mindedly with children’s issues when he has so many himself?
AKA the Roman Catholic agenda?
wow
not really so funny or clever…..
Grammatically “…but this isn’t the first time questions have been raised Justice Scalia’s controversial sex practices.” isn’t a sentence.
If “…but this isn’t the first time questions have been raised ABOUT Justice Scalia’s controversial sex practices.” is what was meant then factually the statement is in error.
The question(s) was not about Scalia’s practices, it was if Scalia engaged in the practice in question.
It is a big difference.
Excellent piece in “The Nation”. I love that magazine.
Don’t forget this is someone who thinks the government and the church should have control of a woman’s womb. Not her. So my guess is that he’s the one who decided on nine children, not his wife.
If he’s had 9 kids, then one of them has to be gay/bi/lesbian
Well, isn’t the answer to the “do you sodomize your wife” question obvious?
It’s clearly “no.”
@Dan, thank you so much for linking Eric Berndt’s letter in The Nation. I had never seen it before. May he become the nation’s first openly gay Supreme Court justice.
@7: Not necessarily. We only know for a fact that he did not sodomize his wife nine times, although, admittedly, that’s assuming that the children were conceived during intercourse and not through, say, in vitro fertilization.
He’s got nine children and he’s had sex nine times. What’s so unusual about that?
@9 — of course you are correct, and of course my original posting was hyperbole. Also, the second part of your statement does not logically follow. For example, he could have sodomized her and THEN ejaculated inside her vagina, resulting in a successful fertilization event. It’s also entirely possible that the children are not, in fact, actually his offspring and he is in fact a cuckold.
So, in the interests of furthering pedantry, SG, I hereby amend my original posting:
To the question of “do you sodomize your wife?” —
The answer is not clearly “no”, it’s clearly “not often enough.”
Poor kids.