March 31, 2006

Meet Joe Bubbles

There's been a bit of a recent brouhaha over Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia's possibly obscene gesture he flipped to a reporter in Church.

Scalia was asked what he'd say to those who think his Catholicism influences his decisions, and he did the Italian under-the-chin thing while also possibly saying "Fuck you" (or something) in Italian. (The article, naturally, appears to be written before the news of the foreign language obscenity broke.)

This is one of those non-scandals that, uhm, reporters just love to keep going, and so today's Philadelphia Inquirer interviews South Philadelphia Italians and asks them what they think:

"The gesture means, 'I don't care, fuhgeddaboutit,' " said Joe "Bubbles" Scavola, 70, a longtime employee at Esposito's. "Ninety-nine percent of Italian people talk with their hands, and they'd be deaf and dumb without them."

Then, expressing contempt for the media in general and the Herald reporter who wrote the story in particular, Joe Bubbles added: "Tell that reporter I'll show her a few nice gestures." [...]

A disgusted Joe Bubbles concluded: "These reporters, they don't know what else to pick on. Leave the Italians alone."

Of course, ol' Joey Bubbles, expert on everything Italian!

South Philly's verdict on Scalia [Inky]
Another Fingergate Update: The Ocular Proof [Wonkette]

Posted by D-Mac at 11:05 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)