For any international historian who had been away for a time either on another planet or taking a Rip Van Winkle style nap, how would that person find contemporary America?

That individual would have found the "60 Minutes" interview time that CBS generously bestowed on Chief Justice Antonin Scalia highly informative.  He presented the term "originalist" as defining his philosophy on the U.S. Constitution, but after listening to him in detail the question would have to be asked whether what he presented is unstead unvarnished fascism.

The first point that would have to be questioned was when segment moderator Leslie Stahl referred to Scalia, without any supporting evidence, as "one of the most brilliant" jurists we ever had serve on the U.S. Supreme Court.  Where are his credentials to justify such a glowing introductory comment?

Earl Warren had as his enduring legacy Brown v. Board of Education and Baker v. Carr, both landmark decisions that positively changed the face of American education and legislative democracy.  John Marshall, who served 34 years on the Court, in Marbury v. Madison presented the cornerstone principles of judicial review that shaped the Republic during succeeding years.