Ruth Bader Ginsburg recently missed oral arguments for the first time in her Supreme Court tenure because she’s been recovering from surgery. She’s 85 years old and has been hanging ever so precariously to her seat on the bench.
So could she be retiring soon? It’s unclear, but the Trump administration is nevertheless telling their allies to prepare for her possible retirement or death:
The White House is reaching out to political allies and conservative activist groups to prepare for an ailing Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s possible death or departure from the Supreme Court — an event that would trigger the second bitter confirmation battle of President Donald Trump’s tenure.
The outreach began after Ginsburg, 85, on Monday missed oral arguments at the court for the first time in her 25 years on the bench. The justice, who was nominated to the court by President Bill Clinton in 1993, announced in late December that she underwent a surgical procedure to remove two cancerous growths from her lungs.
The White House “is taking the temperature on possible short-list candidates, reaching out to key stakeholders, and just making sure that people are informed on the process,” said a source familiar with those conversations, who spoke on background given the delicate nature of the subject. “They’re doing it very quietly, of course, because the idea is not to be opportunistic, but just to be prepared so we aren’t caught flat-footed.”
There’s a new movie about RBG called On The Basis Of Sex which recounts her challenges as one of the very few women trying to make it in the legal profession in her time. And as the linked article says, she’s become a “liberal pop culture icon.” Now if she were to retire, it would be interesting to see if liberals would do a 180 and tarnish her legacy for voluntarily giving up her seat and paving the way for Trump’s nomination of a third Supreme Court justice. The fact that she’d be retiring for a legitimate reason—her health—would be ancillary to them, because we can’t possibly let Drumpf nominate another justice or else the right to murder a fetus would be in even graver danger!!!—or something like that.
Speaking of which, can you imagine the circus that the third nomination and confirmation process would be? I feel for that justice in advance.
Make The West Great Again 