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“But despite common labels, Scalia was not a conservative.”

Scalia was not a Conservative? Trump is? I give up.
I’m gonna go over to Rushism.

The author isn't a "purist". In fact, he isn't even a conservative. Look at one of his problems with Scalia:

The paradox of Scalia's originalism is that it denied an evolving democratic society the right to reinterpret the law, and it empowered the chosen guardians of originalism to dictate what our forefathers allowed, and what they didn't.

Would a conservative believe that an "evolving democratic society" has the "right to reinterpret the law?"

To quote Justice Antonin Scalia:

"That's the argument of flexibility and it goes something like this: The Constitution is over 200 years old and societies change. It has to change with society, like a living organism, or it will become brittle and break. But you would have to be an idiot to believe that. The Constitution is not a living organism, it is a legal document. It says something and doesn't say other things."

"Jeremi Suri holds the Mack Brown Distinguished Chair for Leadership in Global Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin. He is the author and editor of numerous books, including "Liberty's Surest Guardian: American Nation-Building From the Founders to Obama."

One can only guess at the political leanings of this person.

Amazing, even Scalia wasnâ€™t good enough for the purists.

This sort of thinking has given us two terms of Bill Clinton, two terms of Barack Obama and will give us at least one term of Hillary or Bernie. Unbelievable.

People who rationalize for acceptance of Judicial activism, in defiance of the clear intent of the Constitution, are not "purists," nor "conservatives," but rationalizers. Scalia was a true Conservative, who understood the issues. He will be terribly missed.

Frankly, I do not want to disparage Edmund Burke, in any way. But we do not need to rely on any particular pundit, living or dead, to define Conservatism for all of us. It all depends on subjective focus, what Conservatism means to any individual--and in any sense, subjective focus, will always define how any of us with a genuinely Conservative personal orientation, will actually give voice to our Conservatism.

I make this point only because we have lost a great many battles, by not recognizing Conservatism in our fellow countrymen, who wanted to focus on other issues, than our own preferred issues. Understanding what is actually Conservative is particularly important if we are going to be able to bring the Trump & Cruze supporters together to take back America. (To Support Trump & Cruz.)

Attention Jeremi Suri:
Mr/Ms Suri, while you may hold a Mack Brown Leadership Position on Global Affairs (Mack Brown hasn't even been any good at football affairs in a long time -- let alone global affairs) at Berkley on the Brazos, it is quite apparent that your perspective on conservatism and/or the rule of law is far from a Texas Perspective. Thank you for this timely reminder of why most of the state holds the inhabitants of the commune around its capital in such low regard.