[ColoradoTree]

well done...

Thanks!  Once I heard about the decision, I assumed (apparently correctly) that it would be a crazy political firestorm, but I wanted to figure out the context to see whether the firestorm was warranted. 

Also, for what it's worth, this Politico piece (http://www.politico.com/story/2016/02/ba...z40YHPHpGi) had this to say: "people close to the Scalia family said Obama was making the right choice and that the Friday ceremony at the Supreme Court was the better place for Obama to pay his respects."  I have no idea who those "people close to the Scalia family" are, but if it's at all indicative of the family's preference, then it's the right call. The article also had some more helpful details, like Biden going because he actually had a friendly relationship with Justice Scalia. 

I also think the argument that it's important for the President to attend the funeral because of the expected fierce battle over appointing Scalia's successor (also mentioned in that Politico article) is silly.  I can't believe that the President's attendance or lack thereof would make a Senator more or less likely to vote for the nominee, Sen. Grassley more or less likely to hold hearings, or Sen. McConnell more or less likely to allow a floor vote.  Those actions will depend on a host of factors, but attendance at a funeral simply won't be one of them. 

One other way of looking at this: Of the eight Justices on my prior list, both deceased Chiefs got a Presidential visit to the funeral.  The deceased Associate Justices went 1 for 6 on Presidential attendance.  So perhaps there's a rank issue involved here.  Exploring that further, President Nixon attended Chief Justice Warren's funeral in 1974 (despite the two men reportedly strongly disliking one another), and President Eisenhower attended Chief Justice Vinson's funeral in 1953. So, the last four Chief Justices at least, two of whom died in office and two of whom died following retirement, rated Presidential visits.  Thus, status as Chief appears to be a stronger predictor of Presidential attendance than anything else. 

[ColoradoTree]

well done...

Thanks!  Once I heard about the decision, I assumed (apparently correctly) that it would be a crazy political firestorm, but I wanted to figure out the context to see whether the firestorm was warranted. 

Also, for what it's worth, this Politico piece (http://www.politico.com/story/2016/02/ba...z40YHPHpGi) had this to say: "people close to the Scalia family said Obama was making the right choice and that the Friday ceremony at the Supreme Court was the better place for Obama to pay his respects."  I have no idea who those "people close to the Scalia family" are, but if it's at all indicative of the family's preference, then it's the right call. The article also had some more helpful details, like Biden going because he actually had a friendly relationship with Justice Scalia. 

I also think the argument that it's important for the President to attend the funeral because of the expected fierce battle over appointing Scalia's successor (also mentioned in that Politico article) is silly.  I can't believe that the President's attendance or lack thereof would make a Senator more or less likely to vote for the nominee, Sen. Grassley more or less likely to hold hearings, or Sen. McConnell more or less likely to allow a floor vote.  Those actions will depend on a host of factors, but attendance at a funeral simply won't be one of them. 

One other way of looking at this: Of the eight Justices on my prior list, both deceased Chiefs got a Presidential visit to the funeral.  The deceased Associate Justices went 1 for 6 on Presidential attendance.  So perhaps there's a rank issue involved here.  Exploring that further, President Nixon attended Chief Justice Warren's funeral in 1974 (despite the two men reportedly strongly disliking one another), and President Eisenhower attended Chief Justice Vinson's funeral in 1953. So, the last four Chief Justices at least, two of whom died in office and two of whom died following retirement, rated Presidential visits.  Thus, status as Chief appears to be a stronger predictor of Presidential attendance than anything else.