RBG

[H2O Man]

Rest in peace, Ruth Bader Ginsburg. You fought the Good Fight. Thank you for that. And you left us the lessons of your example.

Now, a simple message to the DU Community: The death of this powerful lady is surely a heavy blow. It hurts. It would be foolish to attempt to deny this. But it is not the end of the fight.

Admittedly, I'm not the smartest person in this room. But I'll bet a dollar to a doughnut that I have the most experience in fighting. And in 329 boxing matches -- and thousands of rounds sparring -- I do have some experience in getting hit hard and being hurt. Yes, I do!

I just watched a film of RBG working out in a gym with Stephen Colbert. I believe the film was taken after her first round fighting cancer. Now, there was one tough lady. I'm sure she hurt, but she was 100% focused on fighting. That was an important lesson we must keep in mind.

Somewhere in this large, old house, there are films of a few of my boxing matches. Fortunately, they are on 8 mm film, so I can't subject you to them. Instead, above is film of one of the toughest men to ever fight, Smokin' Joe Frazier. But before I comment on the above film, a little background.

Joe had lost twice in the trials for the 1964 Olympics to Buster Mathis. However, because he broke his hand in the second bout, Mathis declined to represent the USA. This allowed Joe to, despite the fact that he, too, had broke his hand in that second fight. Joe won Olympic Gold. Buster went on to be a top contender in the professional ranks, and Joe went on to be the world heavyweight champion.

The above film is of his first fight with tough Jerry Quarry. The first round was one of the most explosive in boxing history, with Jerry landing bombs that hurt Joe. On his way back to his corner when the round ended, Joe smiled to himself, and hit himself a couple times on his head. Why? Because he knew he was in for a really tough fight, and even though part of it would be difficult, he welcomed the opportunity to prove he could pull out the victory.

RBG had that same fighting spirit. Her death is sad, and comes at a bad time. There are, in my opinion, two options: we can fight for the title, despite having a broken bone in our hand, or we can wring our hands and give up. By fighting the Good Fight, we can honor her spirit.

[coeur_de_lion]

1. Hard to find hope today

Thanks for the encouragement to fight.

[hlthe2b]

2. I have to take the weekend off from any radio or televised news. I've seen tributes Friday night

and I'm just going to grieve for her sans all the political debate on the nasty repercussions.

Monday, I'll pick up the fight.

[H2O Man]

8. That's a good idea.

Taking time off from the "news" is a good, healthy choice. I do that myself, from time to time.

[H2O Man]

6. It's okay to

take time to mourn the loss of RBG. A great lady has died.

What concerns me isn't the brain-dead people on the internet being gleeful that she died. Fuck them. But what does bother me are the posts that take the Chicken Little position, that the sky is falling. One went so far as to claim that everything President Biden will do will surely be overturned by the Supreme Court. That is weakness, no matter if intentional or not. And we don't need weakness right now.

[malaise]

12. Think about RBG's life

[coeur_de_lion]

13. She was a fighter

But Oh Malaise I don't want to fight anymore. I want to try and tune out all this horror and get spiritually centered.

Maybe if I do that for a while I can face what is happening a little better.

[malaise]

14. You don't need to be in the ring to fight anymore - the generations below us are awake

Last edited Sun Sep 20, 2020, 04:08 PM - Edit history (1)

Encourage them, give them advice, teach them how to fight and show them how to get out the vote.

[coeur_de_lion]

17. Thank you Malaise

What an insightful thing to say.

I work at a school. I shall do as you say.

[Heartstrings]

3. I have 50 postcards to write out in support of a Senator in my district

Hopefully the crampy ache in my hand after finishing those postcards will mask the ache in my heart.

We keep fighting the good fight, one day at a time, looking forward knowing full well what’s in the rear view mirror.

#GOTV #BeLikeRuth #RestinpowerRBG

[H2O Man]

5. Great!

That's exactly what we all need to be doing!

Thank you!

[Hoyt]

4. One thing for sure, we'll be better off with Biden, strong House maybe Senate, and a landslide.

Best I've seen Quarry, and always love to hear Howard Cosell.

[H2O Man]

9. Right.

I think that we will knock the stuffing out of the republican party in November.

That was among Jerry's best fights, even though he lost. (I fought on the undercard of Jerry's brother-in-law when he beat Mike Rossman, who went on to win the light heavyweight title the following year after reversing the outcome in their re-match on ABC. I keep up with both him and Jerry's wife. Recently contributed to a film about Jerry's career.)

[Hoyt]

11. Enjoy your comments about politics and boxing.

[malaise]

7. A fabulous post

Rec

[H2O Man]

10. Thank you!

I suppose I was reminded of this when I woke up this morning, with an uncomfortable left hand .....ring finger in particular. (grin) I broke it in the ring. Inspired by the example of Smokin' Joe -- and being too poor to access medical attention -- I fought a good dozen fights before it finally healed! Ha! Young and stupid!

RBG was one tough lady. She held on for as long as she could, despite the pain and suffering. She did that for us. We can best honor her by fighting as hard as we can, despite the pain of losing her.

[malaise]

15. You know the rules of a good fight my brother

Literally and figuratively

[lunatica]

16. My take on the righteous fight is

that it’s great and powerful when a leader fights for you but only if you take up the fight when your leader no longer can. You have to worthy of the goal.

My first act was to donate some more to Amy McGrath. I’m expecting hundreds of thousands to do the same. If not then you’re not worth fighting for.