This is not what I wanted to write about this morning.
In a more perfect reality, Ruth Bader Ginsberg would have retired at the beginning of the Biden Presidency and spent the remainder of her days with loved ones.
But that's not how it worked out. When Hillary Clinton lost narrowly in the Electoral College, RBG bravely stuck it out, determined to work through the Trump Presidency. Whatever her health issues, her mind never lost a step, writing some of the most brilliant briefs in the history of the court. They were particularly telling in her dissenting opinions, defending everything that made this country great.
She started her stellar career as an advocate for gender equality and women's rights, successfully arguing landmark cases before the Supreme Court. In 1993, in one of Bill Clinton's best decisions, he nominated her to the Supreme Court.
Her record of both leading the court in opinions, both when in the majority or her fiery dissents, puts her at the forefront of being one of the most significant Supreme Court Justices of all time. In Heaven's All-Star team of Supreme Court justices, she may very well be the Chief Justice.
It cannot be ignored how well she got along with her peers. She had good relationships, even with her fierce opponents, including Scalia and Kavanaugh.
I would love for this post to just be a tribute to her amazing record. It deserves to be. But we are at a crucial time in our democratic republic, and the forces bringing us to our knees will not wait.
Next to the horror of a Trump re-election, the thing I feared the most was the death of RBG. The balance of the Supreme Court could overturn Progressive legislation for the next two decades, even if the Progressives took over the Presidency and Congress.
In a matter of just a few hours, Mitch McConnell had already announced that Trump's nominee, when known, would be voted on post-haste. And you thought they were serious about what they did to Obama and Merrick Garland, that it was based on any kind of principle that the Republicans should apply? After all, isn't 46 days much closer than nine months?
No. It wasn't about principle. It was and always has been about sheer political power. He controls the Senate. He will do whatever the ef he wants.
That was bad enough. Also ghoulishly pouncing was Georgia US Senate candidate, Doug Collins, declaring RBG a murderer because of her stance on anti-abortion cases. He is gleeful, and that is probably only the start of the monstrous responses. The sad thing is, I feel like Collins will win and become US Senator.
I am so sick of the hypocrisy on the abortion issue. You think ending Roe v. Wade will end abortion? No, it will not. It will accelerate it. It's about giving states permission to discriminate against abortion in their home states. Not every state is going to do that. Many states will decide to keep pro-choice options. People who can afford it will just go to those states. The poor will suffer, but they've always suffered under our system.
You can't legislate this away, any more than alcohol was eliminated by Prohibition.
I won't go into all of it here, but as someone who doesn't like abortion, I'm smart enough to know that education, support, and birth control are the better ways to go. The dirty secret is that abortion rates have declined sharply under Democratic Presidents. I would rather that continue than for us to go to Civil War.
As the morning after pill and other quick remedies become more prominent, it is clear that we are trying to burn the country down over a 20th-century procedure, one that is rapidly being replaced by other solutions.
But it is not only Roe v. Wade we will lose if the Supreme Court is taken over by right-wing extremists.
We will also lose -
Voting Rights
LGBTQ Rights
Other Gender Equality Issues
Environmental Protections
Any check on the power of Corporations and the Wealthy
Any check on an Imperial Presidency
Affordable Care Act (Obamacare)
Future Healthcare legislation
Worker Protections
Minimum Wages
Unions
And those are just a few I can think of off the top of my head.
I love RBG. I love her record of achievement, her fundamental decency, and kindness. I want to celebrate and honor all that and more.
But I am also in fear right now. Fear for our country and future. Fear for the moral arc of the universe.
But I know one thing.
She would not want us to quit. She would not want us to surrender. No matter the odds.
The windmill tilting will continue.
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