Ruthless

I'm not going to comment on the life and legacy of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died on Friday, as many legal scholars, feminists, and feminist legal scholars are more qualified than I am who can do that.

I'm going to comment on how how this may completely f**k up the presidential election.

Ginsburg's death gives Trump the opportunity to fill a Supreme Court seat and cement a lasting conservative majority, one that could last until long after I'm dead.  And I'm almost 55.  And you know full well that Trump will try to fill it (in fact, he's already announced that he wants to appoint a woman, and soon) because Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell has said that the conditions that led him to block President Obama's attempt to nominate a justice to fill the seat vacated by the death of Antonin Scalia in 2016 - a President of one party and a Senate controlled by the other -  so close to the elections don't exist now, with the White House and the Senate both under Republican control . . . though we're even closer to the elections.  Besides, Trump wants to fill the seat quickly because he wants to fire up his base to come out and overwhelm Joe Biden.

Of course, this could have the unintended consequence of firing up Biden's base, a base fearful of Trump getting another four years and possibly replacing Stephen Breyer, who's no spring chicken himself, or Sonia Sotomayor, who has diabetes.   Which means that for once, the Democratic base will actually keep the judiciary in mind for a change when they go to the polls.  But even if Biden wins, a new justice will likely be confirmed by the lame-duck Republican Senate before January.  And for all we know, there may be no vacancies during a Biden administration. 

Justice Ginsburg was hoping that Trump wouldn't get a chance to chose her replacement, but there is something resembling a bright side regarding the two men Trump has appointed to the Court.  Both Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh have ruled against Trump's repeated efforts to prevent his tax retunes from being released, letting Trump know that they're not his bitches.  And Justice Gorsuch also wrote a thoughtful opinion regarding the sovereign rights of Native Americans to prosecute justice on their lands in Oklahoma.  And because the Democrats in the Senate have some leverage, a Trump appointment is not a foregone conclusion.  Also, Trump is no lawyer.  On the down side - Mitch McConnell is.

Time to think about adding six more justices.  I think Franklin Roosevelt was on to something.

I hope Trump at least makes an effort to promote diversity with his next Supreme Court nominee by nominating a justice from an unrepresented group.

I hope he nominates a Protestant.

Black humor there . . .