"I read Scalia's letter declining recusal, and it is well-written, persuasive, and so on; but underneath the well-turned veneer, there is the smell of voracious self-service."

The Supreme Court's always like that. I heard an interview on NPR with Justice Blackmun about his writing of the majority opinion on Roe v Wade. He wasn't embarrassed in the least that the Court decided what they wanted to do and then spent considerable time making up a justification for the opinion they could live with. That'll teach anyone who thought they were there to interpret what the Constitiution says.

Remember, like it or not, the law is all about winning, not being legally right.