Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Death Will Reshape America
All our worst fears are coming true
We have entered the danger zone. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died on Friday evening, and the news was still fresh when Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced that any nominee to replace her would in fact go to a vote in the Senate before the November election. Republicans have a majority in the Senate, even though they represent a minority of Americans, and could very well speedily seat a new justice. There is little question that President Donald Trump will nominate a right-wing reactionary judge, someone who will spit on Ginsburg’s legacy.
It’s nearly impossible to overstate the direness of another Trump Supreme Court appointee. Ginsburg’s life work will be dismantled bit by bit. Even if Democrats are voted into office with a mandate to pass progressive legislation and then do just that, a far-right court will never allow much of it to stand. Voters won’t have a voice; a wall of conservative ideology will block any efforts to improve the status quo, defend the vulnerable, or even enact the will of the majority. We will be a country of permanent minority rule.
