The death of any Supreme Court justice, no matter their party affiliation, calls for civility and respect. We’re happy to report that most mainstream news outlets, to the extent they could be, anyway, were both civil and respectful — with one notable exception. While The New York Times ran with a rather generic headline — “Justice Antonin Scalia Is Dead at 79” — its competitors over at The Washington Post wasted no time exemplifying their disdain for Scalia. Its front-page newspaper title? “Supreme Court conservative dismayed liberals.” Newbusters notes, “Apparently, someone at the paper thought better of this for the online version. It declared, ‘Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia Dies at 79.’” Even so, the Post’s blatant partisan jab was printed for millions of Americans to see.

That’s not to say the various left-leaning newspapers weren’t critical of Scalia’s political views, as demonstrated in their editorials, as to be expected. But The Washington Post’s knee-jerk potshot was clearly intended to smear conservatism. It would be like The Wall Street Journal writing, “Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Dies, Conservatives Rejoice.”

Speaking of Ginsburg, as much as we disagree with her on just about every major political and social issue, it is her response to Scalia’s passing that The Washington Post should take most to heart: “From our years together at the D.C. Circuit, we were best buddies. We disagreed now and then, but when I wrote for the Court and received a Scalia dissent, the opinion ultimately released was notably better than my initial circulation.” In other words, respect, cordiality and friendship inside and outside the courtroom (both were particularly fond of opera) meant more to them than any rifts that were created by dissent. If America truly wants to get rid of polarization, Scalia and Ginsburg showed us a way.