Is that where they got the idea of the 'hit piece?'

When Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia flicked his fingers under his chin after Mass on Monday in response to a question about media comments concerning his impartiality in matters concerning the relationship between church and state, he explained to reporters, "That's Sicilian."

The Boston Herald leapt to the conclusion that it was therefore an obscene gesture, and reported it as such.

Scalia responded by citing Luigi Barzi's book The Italians, wherein the author explains that "the extended fingers of one's hand moving slowly back and forth under the raised chin means 'I couldn't care less. It's no concern of mine. Count me out."

The article referred to Scalia as "an Italian-American jurist." Scalia replied, "From watching too many episodes of The Sopranos, your staff seems to have acquired the belief that any Sicilian gesture is obscene- especially when made by an 'Italian jurist.' (I am, by the way, an American jurist)."

HT: Drudge