Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has died. May she rest in peace. Her open judicial activism and conduct were antithetical to what we should expect form a Justice regardless of level, but that does not remove her basic human dignity. Do not celebrate her passing. We rightly held in disdain those who celebrated Justice Scalia’s passing, and if we openly celebrate her passing we are no better.
I’ll repeat what I said after Straus was censured. We hold ourselves out as holding the moral high ground and as the party who values human dignity. Statesmanship is like chivalry, a noble concept that enriches all who follow the discipline… and is a faint vestige of times past. As we follow the democrats in losing statesmanship we erode one buttress in the warrant that we hold the moral high ground.
Victory tests a person’s character just as much as defeat, and while this is not a victory in a classic sense it is a victory for conservative ideals. If we openly rejoice this turn of events we not only show we are no better than our opponents, but we also validate their concerns for what the future holds. We become what we profess to disdain.
Even absent this turn of events we are in the throes of a serious crisis as a country. An element of the progressive wing of the democrat party had descended into anarchy with the mentality that they are justified in imposing their will upon others by any means. Now they have a cohesive point they can invoke as a rallying cry that is not divisive by nature. They will use her passing as their rallying cry and justification to continue their crusade.
This is the seminal event for the next generation of the Supreme Court. The Kavanaugh confirmation hearing was bad what comes next is going to be far worse. The democrats don’t need to win, all they need to do is to run out the clock. In their attempt to do so the Senate Democrats empower every Antifa sympathizer to run rampant.
Be that as it may, we still must rise above. By succumbing to the darkness that looms and invites us to follow we simply further societal decline. Rather than accept the invitation we must firmly reject the temptation to celebrate and act like the progressives; and in doing so set the example for what is to follow. We cannot escape the upcoming chaos; we must choose to show the way forward is one of peace and charity. After the near term reaction society will remember how we conducted ourselves and that in turn shapes our credibility for the foreseeable future.
More than that, though, virtue is its own reward. That alone calls us to act as we profess to believe. John Donne is correct, every person’s passing makes us lesser. Ask not for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee.
Great article, Greg. Practicing what we preach, leading by example in not celebrating the death of a judge whose ideological worldview is different from mine is definitely the moral high ground and demonstrates integrity and character. Let’s hope/pray that others follow suit and that dignity and civility still exists in this arena.
I agree with the substance of the article. Having said that, I want Trump to nominate a new judge, and I want Cocaine Mitch to do what he needs to do to get this done…..period.
I’ve seen the “Ginsberg’s last wish was that Trump not replace her,” nonsense. If I was Trump, I’d say that I had heard that, but obviously don’t think that it’s true, because Ruth was such a champion for the law, that Ruth would never be that petty and vindictive. In other words, either force leftists to say “Hell yes, she is that vindictive,” or get them to go along with the line that Ruth didn’t actually say that. Either way is a win and negates whatever heart string tugging that was intended to elicit.
The argument I keep hearing is it’s “unethical” to appoint so close to an election. That’s rich when you consider the Dems were screaming how unfair it was Garland didn’t get a vote.
There’s nothing unethical about filling a vacancy when it comes open. Hypocrisy after what happened to Garland? Sure, but if the Dems were in control they would doubtless fill the seat negating the hypocritical argument.
Fun fact – Jimmuh Carter lost to Reagan on Nov. 11, 1980 and two days later nominated Stephen Breyer to the 1st Circuit Appellate Court . The lame duck dems that lost the election but retained control of the senate confirmed him less than 3 weeks later.
RGB was an overtly political jurist. She gambled on Hillary winning and lost. That is the legacy that is tormenting the dems right now. I’m okay with that.
And every time you hear about Merrick Garland have your tormentor explain Alberto Gonzalez.
All of the high minded floral language pronouncing virtue for our tolerance of being hectored by the screeching banshees on the left are lost on me when I recall what they attempted with the Kavanaugh hearings.