How do you solve a problem like Scalia?

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia is no stranger to ethics problems, but this new bit of dubious douchebaggery, uncovered by ABC News, is nonetheless startling in its blatant disregard for any semblance of propriety:

At the historic swearing-in of John Roberts as the 17th chief justice of the United States last September, every member of the Supreme Court, except Antonin Scalia, was in attendance. ABC News has learned that Scalia instead was on the tennis court at one of the country's top resorts, the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Bachelor Gulch, Colo., during a trip to a legal seminar sponsored by the Federalist Society…

Scalia spent two nights at the luxury resort lecturing at the legal seminar where ABC News also found him on the tennis court, heading out for a fly-fishing expedition, and socializing with members of the Federalist Society, the conservative activist group that paid for the expenses of his trip.

At a press conference, almost two weeks later, Scalia was not inclined to tell reporters his whereabouts during Roberts' swearing-in.

"I was out of town with a commitment that I could not break, and that's what the public information office told you," he said.

It "doesn't matter what it was. It was a commitment that I couldn't break," Scalia continued when questioned further.

According to the event's invitation, obtained by ABC News, the Federalist Society promised members who attended the seminar an exclusive and "rare opportunity to spend time, both socially and intellectually" with Scalia…

"It's unfortunate of course that what kept him from the swearing-in was an activity that is itself of dubious ethical propriety," said Stephen Gillers, a New York University law professor, who is a recognized scholar on legal ethics.

Is there a conservative left in D.C. who has a modicum of integrity? Just wondering.

I hate to get all Debbie Downer first thing in the morning, but it’s stuff like this that just makes me think, “Game over.” When the system is so corrupt that even the ostensibly objective judiciary is being bought and sold like so many bales of hay, and are willing accomplices in their own commoditization, I feel like the only solution left is to bang my head against my desk until I have knocked my brain so hard as to inure myself against any further comprehension of just how totally screwed we actually are.