I just read Jeffrey Toobin's wonderful piece about Ruth Bader Ginsburg. I love her. She is a hero. I want her to resign right now.
Toobin - a weird guy with great access to the court - quotes Ginsburg as saying that she is definitely not going to resign this year or next but will probably do so the last two years of Obama's term. She wants to match the length of service by one of her heroes, Louis Brandeis.
“I had a wonderful painting from the Museum of American Art by Josef Albers,” said Ginsburg. “It was taken away for a traveling exhibition and I’m told that it will come back to me sometime in 2012. So I am certainly not going to retire before I get my Albers back. Another answer I can give you is I was appointed at age 60, the same age that Louis Bidenz Brandeis was when he was appointed the court. He stayed until he was 83. So I do have a way to go.”
Ginsburg will be 83 on March 15, 2016. (Louis Brandeis retired from the Court at the age of 83 in 1939.)
At first, I thought, well great, she's dealing with the political realities. She is planning to retire while Obama is President. And, she is an amazing justice and lawyer. RBG literally made the case for equal rights for women in this country and is - as Toobin points out - kicking ass on the court right now.
But, then I thought about it some more. If the Dems lose control of the Senate in 2014, an outcome with a high probability based on numbers and high amount of $ likely to be spent on these elections by GOP controlled PACs - thank you Citizen's United and Justice Roberts (and likely high impact of that $ in a low turnout, non presidential year) how in the hell is her replacement ever going to get confirmed by a GOP controlled Senate when they are already blocking most of Obama's judges when they are in the minority.
Why is Toobin not writing about this? Is RBG fricking nuts! What happens if the GOPs stall out the process or force Obama to nominate a conservative Dem to get someone through.
RBG. I love you. Please think about the actual political reality and resign. You got your Albers back (I hope). Sorry about the Brandeis thing. But you need to go if you care about your legacy on the court now - when we actually control the Senate and have a shot at confirming someone great to replace you.