I had a little word about Scalia — actually, told a story — but I want to say a bit more. First, I need to talk about Irving Kristol.

When he passed away, I said what he had meant to people like me. When I was in high school and college, trying to figure things out, conservatives were portrayed as ignorant, dumb, racist, boobish — altogether low-class. A conservative was Archie Bunker, at best.

But then there was Kristol. Who was intellectually classier than he? You couldn’t mess with him. You might disagree with him, but you certainly couldn’t belittle him. He knew more than you. He was more impressive than you.

The same was true of WFB, of course, and Norman Podhoretz, and others. They were our champions. When the Left said, “You’re stupid!” we could say, “Oh, yeah? What do you have to say to our A team, huh? Whom do you have? Howard Zinn, Anthony Lewis, Bill Moyers? Give it your best shot. Just go ahead. Heh.”

This brings me to Antonin Scalia: who was kind of like a shield for us, in addition to a champion. No matter whom the Left threw at us, in the legal field, Nino was better. So was Bork, of course, who was the victim of evil. (I have reached for “the strongest of all epithets,” as N. Pod. says: “evil.”) And yet, in his final years, he rose far above his victimizers. In fact, he was always far above them.

And I’d like to say a word about Clarence Thomas. Scalia was the dazzler on the Court. But I know people — including a distinguished federal judge — who say that Thomas’s opinions are the best. The soundest. The Left hates Thomas, of course: He is a race traitor, in addition to a conservative. And I think that we on the right may underappreciate him a bit. Is it because he does not look for the spotlight?

Thomas was born black — black black, not brown or yellow — in the Deep South. Tiny little community. They didn’t even speak English. They spoke Gullah. He did not have his parents. He was raised by his grandfather. In material terms, he had practically nothing. He was the only black kid in his high school. He knew the sting of racism.

And he rose to the Supreme Court. If he were on the left, instead of the right, he would be a national hero. His poster would be on the wall of every child in this country. There would be a federal holiday in his name already. Kids would sing songs in praise of him. He would be on coins, bills …

Don’t get me started. (I realize I’ve started.)