Ruth Bader-Ginsburg accomplished more in her lifetime than most people could ever imagine achieving. She was tiny in stature but had enormous intelligence, passion for doing good, and a work ethic famous to all who knew her. She was nominated by President Bill Clinton and was the second woman to serve on the Supreme Court. Before serving on the Court, her credentials were exceptional, achieving at a level usually ascribed to male accomplishment. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Cornell, attended Harvard Law School, and in 1959, she was one of two people graduating at the top of her class at Columbia Law School. She was also a professor of Law at both Columbia and Rutgers Law Schools. Before and during her tenure as a Supreme Court Justice, most of her career was spent advocating for gender equality and equal rights for women. She married right out of college to Martin Ginsburg who became an accomplished tax attorney and she had a daughter Jane and a son James.
Despite the current takeover of Washington by old, white identity men who couldn’t care less about gender equality issues, masses of Gen X and Millenial women and men are committed to continuing Ginsburg’s life work because it is right, moral, and necessary for a better, more united country. The anti-thesis of Justice Ginsberg was the conservative, anti-feminist advocate Phyllis Schlafly. Schlafly led a successful opposition to the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s. Her views on women’s roles and rights were opposite to those of Ginsburg’s. Her fight against the ERA was based on the premise it would take away what was referred to as gender-specific privileges such as the financial benefits of being a dependent wife, exemption from the Selective Service draft, and separate restrooms for males and females. Ginsburg and millions of women were offended by Schlafly’s views about women which they believed implied male dependency and low self-esteem. For Ginsburg, whether a woman was a housewife or a lawyer, the issue was about choice. The same she argued, should hold true for men. However, to this day, the ERA has not been ratified as part of the U.S. Constitution.
Ginsburg’s passing will undoubtedly re-ignite the debate and, hopefully, the long-overdue achievement of gender equality in the Constitution. Aside from Ginsburg’s loss and everything she meant to the High Court’s balance of ideology, it is the daunting reality that Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell will add another far-right justice to the Supreme Court that concerns millions of Americans. McConnell and the Republican party’s far-right wing have supported Trump despite his crimes against the Constitution because they know he only cares about power. They committed to grant him that power if he did their bidding to transform the Judiciary into an ultra-conservative ideological body. The result is a level of corruption that has infiltrated the U.S. government ((with the help of Putin) and is a crime that will not go unpunished. We can only hope the punishment will be harsh and serve as a deterrent for future elected officials of both parties. Law-makers who break laws or do nothing when they see it happen should be sanctioned or indicted.
The disdain for Trump is not a Democratic issue. Republicans have left the party in great numbers in protest of Trump’s corruption and destruction of our democracy. The resistance movement towards Trump is not about the party; it is about saving American democracy and American values. Are we a mob organization, a conspiracy theorist society, an autocracy, or a democracy? The cold, power-hungry nature of Trump and McConnell are on full display as within 24 hours of Ginsburg’s passing, they are committed to filling her seat before the November election. Our government is being led by men of low character and un-democratic values like no other time in our history.
The passing of Ruth Bader-Ginsburg is both a sad time and a time to reflect on how one person of high moral character, a strong work ethic, and a sense of patriotism can serve a country in the way the Founding Fathers intended; in respect for the rule of law and the devotion to be a united, not divided country. Insiders in Washinton DC report that Justice Brett Kavanaugh was extremely found of Ruth. I hope he does her proud and remains uncorrupted despite the attempts to be “owned” by this Administration.
Rest in peace, and THANK YOU RBG. READ BABY BOOMER RESISTANCE PART 2 A COLLECTION OF POSTS FROM IMPEACHMENT TO COVID. POST ONGOING ON WORDPRESS, FEEDSPOT, AND MEDIUM.
