RGB Citing Dying Wish Clause Trump’s Supreme Court Hypocrisy Or Something

One would expect Jessica A. Levinson, a professor at Loyola Law School, who “studies the law of the political process, including election law and governance issues. Her work focuses on ethics, political corruption, voting rights, campaign finance, ballot initiatives, redistricting, term limits, and state budgets” to have a grasp on how the Constitution works, right? And NBC News to not have something silly, right? Maybe not

Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s dying wish highlights Trump’s Supreme Court hypocrisy
Republicans like Trump and Sen. Mitch McConnell quickly released statements praising Ginsburg’s life and legacy. Yet, they stand now prepared to trample it.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has died. Senate Republicans, don’t make us bury our faith in government along with her.

Ginsburg’s death, and the vacancy she leaves on the Supreme Court, comes at a surreal moment in an already uncanny election. Supreme Court justices are enormously powerful and have lifetime appointments. They wield tremendous power in our democracy but they are not democratically elected. Even in normal times, their deaths or retirements spark a macabre guessing game about who will replace them. But these are not normal times, and the sitting president should not nominate Ginsburg’s replacement.

No, they are not democratically elected. Because we aren’t a democracy. Is it really necessary to mention that we are a Constitutional Republic? How does a law school professor not know this?

If the past is prologue, President Donald Trump, with a shameful assist by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., will fill the new vacancy on the court with record-breaking speed. McConnell has made clear that he intends to do just that. The Kentucky senator has made confirming federal judges and filling the judiciary with conservative jurists one of his biggest priorities.

This has been done numerous times.

McConnell and Trump have both made statements praising Ginsburg’s life and legacy. Yet, they stand now prepared to trample it. On her deathbed, Ginsburg said, “My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed.”

Did she actually say that, or did her granddaughter just say she said it, trying to invoke Article III, Section 4, the Dying Wish Clause? It matters not. The way that pesky Constitution works the duly elected president gets to nominate a Supreme Court Justice, and the Senate can choose to confirm or deny. They can choose to take up the nominee or not.

What would a Supreme Court dominated by conservatives mean? It will likely mean, among other things, the expansion of gun owners’ rights but the whittling away of protections for voters, women seeking to obtain access to an abortion, LGBTQ Americans seeking freedom from discrimination and immigrants seeking basic rights in this country. Or perhaps to put it in even starker terms: It could soon be a particularly precarious time for women and minorities in America.

In other words, Democrats are worried that the Court will back the Constitution, provide equal rights to all, rather than giving some more rights than others, respect the laws and sovereignty of the United States, and, really, probably nothing on abortion. It says something about a political party that their biggest concern is to continue protecting the ability to murder the unborn because some people are too lazy to use proper birth control when they have sex.

In the end, we mourn Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg not just because of the legacy she leaves behind, but because of what her death means for our country going forward. Her life’s work is likely to unravel and so is the legitimacy of our governmental institutions if Trump and McConnell press on with their plan to fill this seat.

Jessica wants to use RGB’s death to continue the ever expansive march of Big Government.