RBG Deserves Better Than Liberal Defeatism
The GOP’s hypocritical effort to replace her isn’t cause for despair. It’s grounds for a fight.
Among the anguished reactions to the death of the American hero Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Friday night was a category that concluded, essentially, “We’re screwed.” Liberal commentators quickly and grimly prognosticated doom: Donald Trump nominating a conservative replacement to Ginsburg’s Supreme Court seat, Mitch McConnell’s Republican-led Senate confirming that replacement, Roe v. Wade being doomed, and the court locking in a conservative majority for years to come — all before voters have a say.
The despair is understandable. This has been a brutal year, and a brutal man is the president. People are beaten down to the point that pessimism just looks like realism. There is absolutely no reason to believe that either Trump or McConnell care about norms, decency, or avoiding even the most blatantly apparent hypocrisies. Any faith in the rest of the Republican congressional ranks to constrain their leaders in any way more meaningful than anonymous expressions of concern or post-departure book deals would be similarly delusional.
So, yes, the despair is understandable — but wrong.
