We offer a touching tribute to RBG from Heather Cox Richardson, a Vox report on GOP options & challenges, and a 2018 Retake post on how Dems can fix the Supreme Court in 2021. But mostly, we offer our heartfelt tribute to a true justice champion.
It is not a good thing to reflect to yourself or others: “How much worse can 2020 get?” 2020 always has an answer. And so, moments before I was going to send a Rosh Hashanah email to my kids and some friends, I got the NY Times alert. I wailed: “Oh NO!” with such shock and sorrow, it alarmed Roxanne. And then we just sat with our sorrow.
We have lost one of the most courageous champions of justice in our lifetimes. I think all of us will hold her memory in our hearts for a very, very long time, and hopefully that memory will inspire us to persist. We owe that to her.
News In Brief
- From Heather Cox Richardson: “Letters from an American: Sept. 18” HCR offers a touching obituary, tracing Justice Ginsberg’s life, her contributions, and her hopes for our future. No one covers Washington, better than HCR.
- From Vox: “What We Know About a Senate Vote to Replace Justice Ginsberg.” Outlines what Trump and McConnell have in mind and the hurdles they face.
- From Retake Our Democracy: “Democrats Could Increase the Supreme Court to Eleven.” Oct. 11, 2018. We discuss a number of strategies Democrats can take, if they retake the White House and the Senate.
According to NPR, RBG’s “most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed.” The moral horror of another Kavanaugh taking the seat of such a revered champion for justice is simply too revolting to ponder. But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Friday that President Trump’s nominee to replace Ginsburg “will receive a vote on the floor of the United States Senate.” We already understand that there is no limit to how craven that duo can behave.
While the Senate will be the final adjudicator and the GOP needs but 50 votes with 53 GOP Senators, not all hope is lost. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) yesterday indicated that she would not vote for any new nominee until 2021, as did Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) last month. In addition, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), when he was serving as Senate Judiciary Chair, indicated he would not hold hearings for a new nominee this year and Sen. Lindsay Graham has expressed doubts, since recanted, that he would have a problem with any nominee from Trump after the election campaign began. And then there is Senator Mitt Romney, a persistent thorn in Trump’s side. So, there is hope that some semblance of a GOP conscience will emerge. But here, sadly, we will be observers, depending upon a sudden display of conscience from a party that has evinced none of that for four very long years.
For many, she seemed to be the last defender of an equality they fear is slipping away. Robyn Walsh, a University of Miami religion professor, watched the outpouring of grief after Ginsburg’s death and wrote, “It says a lot about us that the loss of one voice leaves women and their allies feeling so helpless. I am grateful for RBG, her advocacy, and her strength. I’m enraged that we find ourselves here.”
From Heather Cox Richardson: “Letters from an American: Sept.18″
But there are things we can do in RBG’s honor. In the first hours after word of RBG’s passing, the Democratic Party was registering $100,000 a minute in campaign contributions. And so, I offer you one thing you can do in RBG’s memory. Help fix the Senate, so that in 2021 it can reverse this damage. (See links at the end of this post). Heather Cox Richardson’s tribute to RBG noted how she wanted to be remembered: “Just as someone who did whatever she could, with whatever limited talent she had, to move society along in the direction I would like it to be for my children and grandchildren.” The HCR piece concludes with:
Upon hearing of Ginsburg’s death, former U.S. Attorney and law professor Joyce Vance tweeted, “We should honor the life of RBG, American hero, by refusing to give in, refusing to back down, fighting for the civil rights of all people & demanding our leaders honor the rule of law. This is our fight now.”
From Heather Cox Richardson: “Letters from an American: Sept. 18”
And so, the climb just got steeper, but the goal remains the same: justice. It was what RBG fought for her whole life, but as Joyce Vance noted above: “This is our fight now.”
We can not give up that fight.
In solidarity and, yes, hope. We must maintain hope.
Paul & Roxanne
- Arizona: Mark Kelly – D vs Martha McSally – R. Kelly + 11.3%
- Colorado: John Hickenlooper – D vs Cory Gardner – R. Hickenlooper + 9 %
- Iowa: Theresa Greenfield – D vs Joni Ernst – R Greenfield +0.3%
- Maine: Sara Gideon – D vs Susan Collins – R Gideon +4.5%
- North Carolina: Cal Cunningham – D vs Thom Tillis – R Cunningham+ 4.0%
- Michigan: Senator Peters – D vs. John James – R Peters + 4.0%
- Georgia: Jon Ossoff – D vs David Perdue – R – Perdue + 4
- Montana: Steve Bullock – D vs Steve Daines – R – Daines + 2%
Categories: Justice
We donated money to Biden last night in honor of the death of RBG who fought hard her entire life for justice something that is much more fragile here that I could have ever imagined. This morning we donated to the Senate campaign in Arizona and South Carolina also in her honor. We are both voting IN PERSON during early voting here in New Mexico because we want our vote counted on Election night to show trump we are not afraid.
I’m sending my danger money to Arizona. The Senate election there (Mark Kelly vs McSally) is technically a special election and the winner (presumably Kelly) could be seated as early as Nov. 30, in time to materially affect any SCOTUS confirmation.
Paul and Roxanne – your posts are so timely and pertinent and honest. Thank you, Sarah Manningmann
I will give money to McConnel’s opponent
May I suggest donating money in accordance with Sam Wang’s Princeton Election Consortium “moneyball” guidelines? The best way to sock McConnell in the proverbial is to flip the Senate, and the PEC has the road map to do that. (Donating to MCConnell’s opponent, while it may feel good, is not likely to get us a win.)
https://election.princeton.edu/senate-race-voter-powers-by-state/