Salon took a break from its usual anti-conservative drift to acknowledge a tribute by late night comedian Stephen Colbert to Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who passed away on Saturday.
“He was universally acknowledged to be an intellectual giant who left his mark not only on the court, but on how to interpret the Constitution,” Colbert said.
Colbert recalled his own 2006 speech at the White House Correspondents Dinner where not many of the important people in the front row laughed at his jokes.
Afterwards, “no one was even making eye contact with me,” Colbert remembered. “Antonin Scalia [came] up to me and said, ‘It’s great! […] Great stuff!'”
Scalia went on to quip with the comedian about jokes Colbert had made at Scalia’s own expense.
“Whether or not you agreed with him – or made a lot of jokes about him, like I did – one thing you’ve got to admit is that he had a great sense of humor,” Colbert remarked. “People have actually broken down the transcripts of oral arguments, and he told more jokes and got more laughs than any of the other justices.”
Some of Scalia’s wit made it into his opinion writing for the court -- especially when he penned dissents.
“That might be part of the reason why he could be such good friends with justices who he disagreed with like Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Elena Kagan,”Colbert mused,
“I watched him go and I thought, ‘Don’t you make me love you, old man,’” Colbert joked.
“So I will forever be grateful for that moment of human contact that he gave me,” Colbert concluded, as he saluted Scalia on last time.
Colbert’s moving tribute showed a classy appreciation for the intellect, kindness and sense of humor of the famous justice, no matter what the comedian’s differences of opinion with Scalia may have been. Good for Colbert, and good for Salon for taking a moment to acknowledge it.
