Does Justice Ginsburg need to resign...

[EEO]

... before the number of liberals on the Supreme Court is reduced even further in the event Republicans gain control of the Senate in 2014 and the presidency in 2016? It could happen, and Republicans have already tilted the SC to the right with disastrous consequences. Though she is undoubtedly a brilliant justice and a solid liberal, her resignation would be a stop-loss measure.

[Thinkingabout]

1. She did a much better job in writing the desent on HL than five men did.

[Historic NY]

2. Exactly.

[joshcryer]

15. The first post nails it.

[EEO]

16. I don't know what her written opinion has to do with the future balance of the Court.

[LiberalFighter]

43. Agreed!

[Gman]

3. We're not going to lose the Senate.

[Hippo_Tron]

4. It's another example of how life imitates the West Wing

Right around this point in Bartlet's presidency, the fictional chief justice won't resign because he knows Bartlet can't get a worthy successor confirmed. I suspect Ginsburg has a similar calculus.

[eppur_se_muova]

9. Exactly. Best for her to hang in there and hope for a HRC administration.

I know HRC wouldn't nominate anyone quite as liberal as DU might like, but she would certainly not nominate another member of Opus Dei. I think.

[Hippo_Tron]

10. Bill Clinton capitulated by nominating Ginsburg in the first place

Don't get me wrong, she's done an excellent job on the court and you couldn't ask for a better justice. But he capitulated to the Republicans by nominating someone who was 60 years old and liberal rather than someone who was 40 years old and liberal. Bush Sr. got Uncle Ruckus confirmed in a Democratic Senate to replace a liberal icon. Clinton should've been able to get somebody in their 40's to replace Byron White.

[Vincardog]

29. I hold no hope that HRC would nominate anyone near as FLAT out LIBERAL as we need.

[elleng]

28. Thanks. This is the only thing

that keeps me from ranting against this OP. I try to ignore posts that so annoy me.

[shraby]

5. The ones who SHOULD resign are the terrible 4..Roberts, Alito,

Scalia and Thomas.
Not one of them has shown they have the right stuff to be Supreme Court justices.

[Thinkingabout]

6. Yes, they are activitist judges

[EEO]

18. And they will be there a good, long time.

[onecaliberal]

7. IMO, It will be impossible to get

anyone confirmed who would be half as decent as Ginsburg. The 5 reicht wing activist judges already have a majority to do whatever they want even with Ginsburg there.

[davidpdx]

8. I agree, I think it's too late

At this point she needs to stay until 2017 and hope we get a D elected. I hope her health holds up.

[anti partisan]

11. May be true, but...

The difference between Ginsburg an Obama appointee will be way less ground-shattering than the difference between an Obama appointee and a Republican appointee.

Are you really willing to risk a Republican winning the Presidency and nominating another Scalia? To those who find that especially frightening, it may be better to see Ginsburg retire before that scenario rolls out.

[onecaliberal]

12. They already have a majority.

I could be crazy but Americans are not going to elect a con POTUS anytime soon. I do however, worry about them appointing another con to the WH.

[EEO]

17. Either way the possibility exists that a Mitt Romney could be made president.

What do you think the court would look like after he was done with it if even one of the liberal justices left?

[onecaliberal]

22. It would be horrendous

End of America. I think it might be the last straw.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

27. Oh, Americans are extremely like to elect another con to the WH.

Just not a Republican one.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

26. Another Scalia?

You mean all of the decisions we're losing 5-4 would be lost 6-3?

The horror, the horror.

[Hippo_Tron]

39. All the decisions we're winning 5-4 we'd be losing 5-4

Namely the Affordable Care Act and marriage equality, as those are the only two I can think of recently, but they're still very important.

[Hekate]

13. No, but at least one of the toxic old men needs to...

... discover an urgent need for more time with their families.





Or drop dead of natural causes. (oh crap, was that my out-loud voice?)

[whistler162]

14. You do mean retire which while

doing the same thing has a different connotation to resigning.

[TBF]

19. No. She's the best one on the court. But nice try sport. nt

[EEO]

20. I don't know what being the "best one" has to do with the future make-up of the court.

I'm talking about long-term political calculation, and you are comparing the justices already on the court.

[TBF]

21. Anything can happen -

any single one of them could have a heart attack at any time, or get run over by a bus. Nothing is for sure.

Leave Justice Ginsburg alone. She'll retire when she's ready to retire.

[EEO]

23. You're right, anything can happen.

But if another conservative takes a liberal's position without anything else changing the court may be lost for a generation or more. How do imagine an even more conservative court will damage the country?

This is more than one justice deciding when she wants to retire. The Court is supposed to be above politics and such political calculations, but it most certainly is not in practice. The conservatives are playing hard ball and we have to be proactive, not adopt a "que sera sera" approach.

[TBF]

24. I have been on this earth for decades

watching women getting pushed down. I lived in Washington DC for nearly two decades of five. I know the kinds of games that get played by both sides. If you think I'm going to watch folks try to manipulate to get the best one on the bench knocked off you've got another thing coming.

Why don't you work on GOTV to make gains in the House and hold the Senate rather than spending your time trying to unseat our best justice?

[EEO]

25. Who is trying to unseat her? I simply asked if it was politically wise for her to retire.

It's not me pushing down women.

And the political games being played from Washington, D.C. are pretty clear from here.

And if anyone is going to try and manipulate the political environment to get her to retire it won't be me, and there will be nothing you or I can do about it if it did happen. I do appreciate the influence you think I have to be able to unseat a Supreme Court justice and control both house of Congress. If only it were true...

[onecaliberal]

30. I agree TBF,

The republicans will never confirm a Supreme Court justice unless it was another reicht wing avtivist.
The time for Ginsburg to retire is definitely not now.

[TBF]

31. I doubt this Congress would agree

on anything - for the simple reason that they are hell-bent on being obstructionist. I think for some it is a racial thing but for others it is blind allegiance to their owners. The answer is to unseat them this fall. That is the #1 effort right now AFAIC.

[Drunken Irishman]

32. With Dems controlling the Senate, it is best time unfortunately.

If Republicans take control of the senate in November, we're SOL if something happens in 2015 or 2016 - worse if the Dems lose the WH in 2016.

[onecaliberal]

33. We can't even get judges confirmed

To the lower court, how do you think we'd get a Supreme Court justice confirmed.

Edited: Used the word appointed instead of confirmed.

[Drunken Irishman]

34. Because there is a huge PR difference between lower and the Suprem

It's why it's routine for presidents to see a bigger fight and filibuster with those lower courts than the Supreme Court.

Politically, it's not a good fight and only happens when a candidate is too extreme - which has pretty much only happened once recently with Robert Bork.

[TBF]

37. Then we work on GOTV and hold the Senate -

what in hell is going on here?

We are not going to force our best Justice to step down - period. This is such BS.

[Drunken Irishman]

38. We won't ever be able to force her to step down...

But there has to be an understanding that losing her voice when a Republican is president would be devastating to this country - and saying that is the truth. Imagine if Kerry had won in '04, the Supreme Court would have a liberal majority with the death of William Rehnquist.

What's BS is the myopic view many on the left take and it bites us in the ass. No one is going to force her to step down, but let's not pretend she's got an infinite amount of time left. She's 81 years old and that makes her the oldest justice on the court.

[TBF]

40. Then we need to make sure there is a democratic president

in 2016. None of the jurors have an infinite amount of time left. Scalia and Kennedy are only 3 years younger than Ginsburg and frankly Scalia doesn't look like he's in the best of health to me. Why don't we ask him to step down? That is a plan I could get behind.

[Sunlei]

46. proactive to me is RG waits until President Obama can sit on the SC andddd

we catch one of the RW back scratching, elbow rubbing, party time judges with their hands so deep in the cookie jar they have to "self-resign".

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

35. NOPE. And this thread is bullshit (and disgustingly ageist) to make that suggestion. Trashing.

[TBF]

36. Thank you. nt

[LiberalFighter]

44. Agreed!

[EEO]

48. That's a great talking line, which fails to take into account the serious social and political...

... repercussions of either being for or against the position taken by the thread. You cry ageism and wipe your hands of it.

[TBF]

41. ...

[stevenleser]

42. Love RBG. Hope she lives another 40 years. Yes, I know that would make her 121. nt

[Sunlei]

45. oh no way, but I always wish we could 'reboot' the C. Thomas hearings and he never got approved.

[fujiyama]

47. Too late to make a difference now

As much as I like her, I do wish she had stepped down earlier when Democrats had a greater majority to confirm a more liberal younger SC justice. And I believe Congress will be in recess all of August...And it's not like the Senate could schedule hearings for a while. So, it's certainly not going to happen this term.

And it's very possible the Democrats won't even keep the Senate after November. I certainly don't expect them to widen their majority. Let's hope she stays healthy until a Hillary Presidency. I'd hate for her seat to be occupied by a right winger for several decades. It was awful to see Marshal replaced by Thomas. Let's hope that doesn't happen again.

[Rowdyboy]

49. It doesn't matter really. If Democrats lose the White House in 2016 its all over anyway....

Scalia, Breyer and Ginsburg will likely all three be replaced by the next president. Its too late for Obama to get anyone I'd accept through now. Any new Republican president will leave the court split 7-2 the wrong way.