Justice Antonin Scalia died last weekend of natural causes. At 79 years old, he left behind a loving wife of 35 years, nine children, 28 grandchildren and many caring and loving friends – and many more people he touched and encouraged in a positive way.

Let me start by saying my heart and prayers go to the family for peace and solace at this time. I hope they find understanding in what has happened and that they realize this great man was an inspiration to many.

But what happened to those on the left who always scream about civility, about not spewing hate, about everyone deserving respect? What happened to them? They busted a gut and couldn’t contain themselves. Their rabid rhetoric and hate speech is all over the Internet.

Some hate him because of his stance on Supreme Court decisions they didn’t agree with – all the while disregarding the many decisions he made that protected and helped millions.

They have never worked with the man. Many don’t really know anyone who worked with or around him. Justice Scalia, according to his colleagues on both sides of the aisle, was a loved and respected man, even by those who disagreed with him 100 percent of the time. Justice Ginsberg, who found herself upset at him quite a lot and frequently arrived at completely different decisions, actually vacationed with him and his family. When her husband was alive, they often went to the opera and plays together.

This is the way it should be. We should be able to argue but be civil about it and be Americans.

Just check out the Internet. We have lost that. It’s obvious that we are now in a second Civil War. This war is not to free the slaves. It’s to free freedom. Every constitutional right and freedom is on the table, and it started long before Scalia died. His death is like the “shot heard around the world” that some say started the Revolutionary War.

As soon as his death hit the airwaves, the major nasties starting appearing. Where were they coming from? Come on, you can guess who … yup … the same-sex marriage groups, the pro-abortion groups and some devoted socialists.

Those folks didn’t even have the decency to wait 24 hours. The Internet was immediately flooded with vile, nasty comments about a man who devoted his life to public service. A stark contrast to their perpetual complaints about needing hand outs and more government programs.

Some of those in my neck of the woods were happy posting “good riddance,” “He was the worst thing to ever happen to the court,” and “He needed to go; he was a bigot and hater.” Yes, spoken like a true Democrat-socialist-bigot. I say “bigot” because many of these people feel they have the only truth, and if you don’t agree with them, well then, you are unworthy. The purest definition of a bigot.

Bigot – noun – “a person who is intolerant toward those holding different opinions.” Isn’t that exactly what many of the left are being when commenting about his death and legacy?

The Huffington Post’s opening remarks: “Here Are Some Of Antonin Scalia’s Most Controversial Remarks” – as did many others like CNN, MSNBC, NBC News, you know, the mainstream fools.

Twitter was all lit up:

Jonah Ray: “Goodbye Justice Scalia, now go tell God what to do with her body.”

John Ladorola: “If Scalia’s death is sad, the thousands who will die as a result of his suspending Obama’s greenhouse gas emissions rule is far, far sadder.”

Loki Swears: “Rest in hell, Scalia. Proceed Mr. President.”

What a great group of people. Glad they’re on your side, Mr. President. Obviously very low-IQ voters and followers of the party.

But, to the credit of those who knew him:

Bill Clinton remarked (Feb 13, Washington Post): “I always liked the fact that Justice Scalia never pretended to be anything he wasn’t. He wasn’t pretentious, and even though I didn’t agree with him on almost anything, he was a man of integrity and character.”

Candidate Bernie Sanders: “While I differed with Justice Scalia’s views and jurisprudence, he was a brilliant, colorful and outspoken member of the Supreme Court.”

U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch called Scalia “one of the most influential and eloquent justices to ever serve on the U.S. Supreme Court.”

Hillary Clinton said she did not hold Justice Scalia’s views but remembered him as “a dedicated public servant who brought energy and passion to the bench.”

Also many strong positive words by Justices O’Connor (ret.), Kagan, Breyer, Sotomayor and Stevens (ret.), to name a few. People who actually knew and worked with him.

I’m no idiot. Some were lying. I get it. But most people understand what he meant to the process. Those who disagreed with him said he brought a new way to look at the Constitution, called “originalist.” He said we needed to start with what the Founding Fathers had in mind, not what they might have thought given today’s environment.

Why do we continually have 5-4 decisions? Because they aren’t interpreting the Constitution. They are interpreting their liberal or conservative ideology.

Let’s get back to the law, period.

As I said, it feels like we are in a second Civil War. In the first one, the country fought for states’ rights. The South, to keep slavery, was willing to secede. The North was willing to fight to end slavery and keep the South in the Union. (Yes, that’s the Readers Digest version. But you get the picture.) Hundreds of thousands of American lives were lost. Brothers fighting brothers. Each one sure he was right, all the way down to killing one another.

And now in our present day it feels like we’re moving into the same thing. We have socialist-progressive-Democrats who hate pretty much everything about the system. It needs to change, wealth needs to be distributed, and government needs more control. The hardcore conservative right says we need less government, more freedom for the people, back to our roots and heritage, and bring back American exceptionalism.

We are fighting each other in the cities, Democrats versus Republicans. State legislators fight Democrats versus Republicans. And at the federal level it’s still Democrats versus Republicans. We make fun of our Founding Fathers, but they had something many of us lack today – a real love for this country. They were real Americans.

Many of you take to the pen to hide behind your fake names, “guest345” and so on. You make wild claims about the opposition that have no basis in fact. You love socialism yet never lived in a socialist country nor even spoken with people who have run from it. But somehow you know better? You’ve never lived under state-run healthcare for real, but you know it’s better? How is that possible?

Our Founding Fathers knew they might die and lose everything because of what they believed and what they were doing for future generations. Many lost everything – family, property, freedom, fortunes. Are you willing to do the same? I say not.

A large group is willing to take to Facebook and Twitter to fight for free everything for everyone and make sure the rich and our government pay for it. Another group says smaller government, fewer taxes, defend our sovereignty, and fight, fight, fight. But every chance they had, they surrendered without even waving a white flag.

We have forgotten who we are. The vitriol and nasties aimed at a man who gave more to this country in one week than some of you have given in your whole time on this Earth is just sickening. You have lost your humanity. And you say you want everyone treated fairly? Sure you do. That’s nothing but hypocrisy and hate.

Joe Messina is host of The Real Side (TheRealSide.com), a nationally syndicated talk show that runs on AM-1220 KHTS radio and SCVTV [here]. He is also an elected member of the Hart School Board. His commentary publishes Mondays.