At her age, and with pancreatic cancer, Ruth Ginsberg should have retired by now.

[pnwmom]

If the Senate is taken by the Rethugs this fall, Obama will never be able to get someone like her approved again.

Obviously, it's her choice to go for another few years. But in exchange for those few years, we're likely to end up with 30 years with her conservative replacement. Whatever her legacy is could be torn to pieces.

[VanillaRhapsody]

1. Time for the "idealists" to stop the bellyaching and get REAL.

this means WAR! GET OUT THE VOTE

These midterms are CRUCIAL!

[pnwmom]

2. They absolutely are.

[Demo_Chris]

27. Every election is crucial, and in every one liberals are told to again discard their values...

Just this one more time, and vote party.

If it 'means war' then the party better start fighting to earn my vote.

[VanillaRhapsody]

32. So you are saying you are not going to "discard your values" at the midterms and vote D?

[Demo_Chris]

33. Me? Sure.

[VanillaRhapsody]

34. Good....now are you going to be supportive of them or NOT until then?

are you going to deny that we have made progress? Or claim that the Democrats are just the same as Republicans as so often is heard on DU? Do you think that is supportive and defending progress?

[Demo_Chris]

37. I will continue to post the truth as I see it. nt

[VanillaRhapsody]

44. And I will continue to defend Democrats, President Obama and the Affordable Care Act

just like Bernie Sanders said I should do....if you oppose them...then I will oppose you. We have Midterms to win.

[Demo_Chris]

50. We are in agreement then: YOU will work to elect Democrats, I will vote and wonder why I bother.

[VanillaRhapsody]

51. but do your level best to ensure others DON'T by bashing Democrats....

If you cannot tell the difference now.....You ain't paying attention....

Stomping your feet and holding your breath until your pet issue is resolved isn't helping Progress...

As Bernie Sanders said yesterday we DO have progress....and the Democrats are making that happen. Where are all your "Idealist Party" candidates and how do you plan to get them elected? Good luck with that...This isn't Fantasy Politics League....this is the real deal. This is for all the marbles...IF we defeat them soundly this time....and the Affordable Care Act stays successful...we may make them a rump party for a while...and we can get play downfield for a quite a while. We have done it before and it was ALWAYS after a tough fight on some major legislation.....which is what we have right now....this is long term strategy we are playing for.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

29. Yes! It's VITAL! nt

[ljm2002]

41. And right away with the jabs...

...at the dirty hippies on DU.

Well as a longstanding member of the DH brigade, and one who will be voting this November, and voting for Democrats... I say: good morning VanillaRhapsody, let's stop the sniping and get REAL and start working together instead of taking every opportunity to scratch each other's eyes out.

You'll have a lot better luck getting out the vote if you hide your contempt for the "idealists". We need idealists, we need pragmatists, we need women and minorities and white guys and workers and students and and and...

[taught_me_patience]

3. The thought of losing her and gaining another Alito

is almost too much to bear. If that happens, I think, the blame should be put squarely on her.

[Loudly]

28. Passion for the law might be the main thing which has kept her going.

Everyone wants to live, mostly.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

30. He wouldn't appoint an "Alito" if Ginsberg dies/retires with a Republican Senate

and the Republicans could only stall the process so long before they'd have to give in and confirm a moderate SOMEBODY. People may be ignorant and uninformed about what is going on in DC but most people know that we can't leave a SCOTUS seat vacant for long. That being said, working to try to keep the Senate in Dem hands and electing another Democrat to the WH in 2016 should be priority #1.

[lumpy]

49. She continues on because she doesn't want to be replaced by another Alito, and the possibility

of that happening is real.. She doesn't deserve blame for anything.

[leftstreet]

4. Well, Obama will just have to work hard to GOTV n/t

[Nye Bevan]

5. Trying to bully an 81-year old woman into giving up a job she loves is most unseemly. (nt)

[MoonRiver]

6. It is, but so is the truth.

Ginsberg should retire for the good of her country and her deeply held values.

[Puzzledtraveller]

11. It is rather disturbing to see here.

[pnwmom]

21. Who's bullying her? Do you think she's a DUer? nt

[OmahaBlueDog]

15. Nye, I normally agree with you

I have to disagree here. She needs to step down -- preferably at the end of this term. Unseemly or not, she needs to get that message.

[lumberjack_jeff]

17. She's not just any "81 year old woman". To her it may be a job. To us, it's our children's future.

Last edited Wed Apr 2, 2014, 12:59 PM - Edit history (1)

There's more at stake than her personal fulfillment.

"Bullying an 81 year old woman".

Maybe the belief that the citizens have the capacity to bully female supreme court justices is a better example of benevolent sexism than holding doors.

[pnwmom]

19. Who's bullying her? n/t

[cpwm17]

38. The future of the US is much more important than just one person

[elleng]

52. Yes it is, unseemly,

and she doesn't HAVE pancreatic cancer.

'Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg may have a better chance of surviving than most others with the illness, cancer experts said today.

The reason for the optimism is that the tumor found in the center of Ginsburg's pancreas was only about 1 centimeter in length, according to a statement from Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital in New York City, where surgeons performed the operation to remove it this morning.

A tumor of this size is about as small as is detectable by CT scan, said Dr. Paul Lin, a surgical oncologist specializing in pancreatic cancer at George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C.'

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/CancerPreventionAndTreatment/story?id=6813420

I hope to restrain myself from any further discussion on this subject, as it irritated me years ago when people were asking that she resign, and it irritates me more now.

Thanks for your post, Nye.

[jwirr]

7. If she resigns she leaves a seat empty and votes like today would be 5-3. And if the Senate will not

confirm another judge anytime soon all future votes will look that way. The repugs would give anything to have a chance like that.

[rhett o rick]

8. The Senate wont approve of anyone the President appoints. nm

[PoliticAverse]

12. The Senate already approved 2 Obama nominees to the court. n/t

[pnwmom]

22. In his first term when we had more votes in the Senate.

[PoliticAverse]

25. The votes were 68-31 and 63-37. Several Republicans voted for his choices. n/t

[pnwmom]

26. Yes. That would have been a good time to get another Justice approved. n/t

[rhett o rick]

35. So what's your point? nm

[OmahaBlueDog]

18. If he can get appointments in over the summer, yes they will

Reid will go "nuclear" and there will be a party line vote.

After the mid-terms, you are most likely correct. That's why Breyer and Ginsburg need to step down now.

[rhett o rick]

36. I hope Reid will go "nuclear", but I'd be surprised. nm

[PoliticAverse]

9. She's not retiring. n/t

[cthulu2016]

10. No shit. Agreed.

[BeyondGeography]

13. The problem with lifetime appointments is lifetimes tend to last a lifetime now

Then again, I had no complaints when Stevens outlasted Bush.

Ginsburg, however, seems to willfully ignore the context of all that when she points to Stevens as a model/example of why she's staying on the bench. Plus she has had two bouts with cancer since 1999, including pancreatic cancer in 2009.

The job is most likely what keeps her alive, but her decision to carry on puts the issues she cares about at risk.

[One_Life_To_Give]

14. Forced Retirements were bad, thats why they were stopped.

Maybe some here don't remember when mandatory retirement was the rule. In my experience it has been good for some people to continue keeping busy and productive during the years others would force them to retire. It's possible that keeping busy is the best medicine for Justice Ginsberg.

[OmahaBlueDog]

20. It may be the best medicine, but it's lousy politics

Terms should be capped at 20 years, IMO.

[pnwmom]

23. Unfortunately, what's best for HER is probably not best for the country. nt

[oldandhappy]

16. If we can take the House and keep the Senate

this fall, I think she would retire the next day. She is holding on for us!

[pnwmom]

24. That's what I thought when Bush was in office. But now it's obvious

she's just holding on for herself. If she was trying to do it for the country, she wouldn't have taken a chance on Obama not being re-elected.

[oldandhappy]

31. yep!

OK

[NCTraveler]

39. She kind of kicks ass where she is at. nt.

[ljm2002]

40. Agree completely...

...and although it is her choice, I also have to wonder why she does not appear to be concerned about who will choose her replacement.

Yes, of course it's her choice, but we can all see the downside here -- and it is a scary prospect indeed.

Hopefully she'll give the matter some thought and consider retiring before President Obama's term is up.

[tritsofme]

42. If they take the Senate, no judges will be approved

For the following two years, it would be devestating.

This June she really must weigh the needs of the country over her own wants and ambitions, and retire.

[DURHAM D]

43. She does/did not have pancreatic cancer.

[pnwmom]

45. She's had both colon cancer and pancreatic cancer,

according to Wikipedia and the WA post. Do you know something they don't?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_ginsburg

Ginsburg was diagnosed with colon cancer in 1999 and underwent surgery followed by chemotherapy and radiation therapy. During the process, she did not miss a day on the bench. On February 5, 2009, she again underwent surgery related to pancreatic cancer.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/05/AR2009020501695.html

If pancreatic cancer is discovered at an early stage, treatment usually consists of surgery and chemotherapy, which can extend survival and relieve symptoms but "seldom produces a cure," according to the society. About 24 percent of patients survive one year after diagnosis and 5 percent survive years, the society said.

Ginsburg's outlook could be on the more optimistic end of the spectrum, because her tumor was relatively small and was found during a routine scan.

"She has a much better chance than most of the other typical patients to be cured of this," said Paul P. Lin, a pancreatic surgeon at George Washington University.

[maddezmom]

46. And her tumor was removed due to her routine follow up appts due to her colon cancer

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/08/health/08brod.html?_r=0

[pnwmom]

47. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean it can't recur. And it's not a good sign

that she's already had two cancers.

[maddezmom]

48. Of course it can but so far doesn't seem like it has