The promise of America has boiled down to one person: Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The Notorious RBG is by far the most important person in America today. She’s not the most influential or the powerful but RBG is the person that is holding our democracy together.
A quick overview about RBG. The Brooklyn born Ginsburg was born in 1933. She is soon to be 88 years of age. After acquiring her Bachelor’s Degree from Cornell, she graduated law school from Columbia University. She went on to teach law at Rutgers Law School and Columbia University and was appointed by President Jimmy Carter to the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. In 1993 RBG was appointed to the Supreme Court by President Bill Clinton to replace retiring Justice Byron White. Ginsburg has always been an advocate for the advancement of Gender Equality and Women’s Rights. She was a volunteer for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
There are only nine Justices in this country. Only nine in a country of over 330 million! There is a delicate balance. Law should not be political, but remains so. There is a natural biases that we all have. People seem to have a propensity to lean a little more toward liberal or conservative (letter of the law versus spirit of the law.) Here is the current list of Justices, naming the president who nominated them and year.
John G. Roberts, Jr., Chief Justice of the United States (G. W. Bush, 2005)
Clarence Thomas, Associate Justice (G. H. W. Bush, 1991)
Stephen G. Breyer, Associate Justice (W. Clinton, 1994)
Samuel A Alito, Jr., Associate Justice (G. W. Bush, 2006)
Sonia Sotomayor, Associate Justice (B. Obama, 2009)
Elena Kagan, Associate Justice (B. Obama, 2010)
Neil M. Gorsuch, Associate Justice (D. Trump, 2017)
Brett M. Kavanaugh, Associate Justice (D. Trump 2018)
Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Associate Justice (B. Clinton, 1993)
Since justices are presidentially nominated, they tend to be of similar ideology as the person nominating them. Justices Breyer, Sotomayor, Kagan and Ginsburg are nominated by Democratic presidents. Justices Thomas, Alito Jr, Gorsuch and Kavanaugh were nominated by Republican presidents. Roberts Jr, was nominated by George W. Bush however, Roberts is known as a swing vote. He is the moderate.
We need RBG to last to the end of the Trump run. If he gets to nominate a third justice in his four years, it may be a consequence we live with for decades to come. The balance of power will have shifted far to one way. I grew up hearing about checks and balances. I was led to believe it was a perfect system- or as perfect as we can hope for. It’s not.
Look at other countries, those systems are breaking down, as well. In 2017 the UK ordered snap elections. That same year Northern Ireland also ordered snap elections. Spain led the way when they did the same thing a year prior. In fact, the past 10 years show Slovenia, Slovakia, Italy, Greece, Armenia, and even Thailand have called for Snap elections, which are, for those unfamiliar with the term, is an election that is called earlier than scheduled. This usually occurs with split government in a parliamentary system.
I don’t have an answer. I wish I did. I have a few band-aids but nothing for long term structure. Some ideas I have are getting money out of politics. Radical yes- needed definitely. I am for public financing of elections, but also for limited lobbying. I am also pro term limits. I am anti Mitch McConnell, but I am all anti Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi. People are replaceable and those dinosaurs with a combined 120 year of combined experience are at the lead. They are NOT on our side.
I digress, back to Ginsburg, who has again been diagnosed with liver cancer. Our country teeters on this 88 year old’s diseased liver. If RBG can’t fight off cancer again, DJT gets to install another puppet in the Supreme court. If that happens America as we know it fails. Fast forward to November, if Trump loses, he will contest the results. If he gets another puppet in the Supreme Court has an automatic three Justices in his pocket. If he wins, I can’t see RBG holding on much longer. He will have more Justices in his pocket.
This is bad. We have to get out to the polls and vote him out. I always thought the Bernie line of “He is an existential threat” was campaign fodder. I realize it is not. It’s one of the most honest things we have heard. I have no interest in who you vote for, just that you vote. Be heard. Personally I would vote for a ratty shoe before I do for DJT, but Biden is the choice.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg has done what she can to hold on…. Time to help her out.
