Off topic. Howard Bashman of How Appealing makes a good point in this post, in which he wonders who on the Supreme Court will have to recuse himself (or herself) from any subsequent case challenging the constitutionality of the Pledge of Allegiance. As we all know, Scalia recused himself because of public comments he had made about the Newdow case before it reached the Supreme Court. Will Scalia have to recuse himself again if a new case on this issue reaches the Supreme Court? And what about O'Connor, Thomas and Rehnquist, all of whom are on the record as having an opinion on the merits of the issue? And when you think of it, Scalia, Thomas and Rehnquist are all on record as stating that there is no constitutional right to an abortion under any circumstances. Should they recuse themselves from any future abortion cases? I'm not sure what the answer is, but it sure is an interesting question.

UPDATE: Lyle Denniston at SCOTUS also agrees that this is an interesting question in this post.