As Karl Marx said, ‘Last words are for fools who haven’t said enough.’ or in the case of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, for Supreme Court Justices who pass away in fear that their vacant seat will be filled with a conservative Catholic woman by the hand of Donald Trump.
As such, the Notorious RBG allegedly dictated her dying wish to her granddaughter: ‘My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed.’
It turns out Ginsburg has more in common with Marx than Cockburn realized — American presidents are meant to be elected, not ‘installed’, perhaps implying some sort of coup or revolution? Regardless, clearly Ginsburg was hoping she could fend off cancer long enough to see Joe Biden elected so she could pass peacefully with the knowledge that a liberal judge would be nominated to take her place. Instead, Trump has announced his intention to fill the vacancy as quickly as possible with a judge from his shortlist (right now Lagoa, Bade and Coney Barrett are rumored to be the three finalists).
What to do with Ginsburg’s dying wish? Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez implied Trump is heartless because he refuses to abide by Ginsburg’s final desire. It’s important to remember, however, that even the Make-A-Wish Foundation can only grant wishes to children that are still alive. The vacant seat belongs to the American people, not Ginsburg. Since she is no longer alive to occupy it, the Constitutional process should play out as intended. The current president chooses a replacement with the advice and consent of the Senate. If those bodies are held by the same political party, then we can expect things to move along fairly quickly.
In fact, deathbed RBG would have a bone to pick with 2016 RBG. When Obama nominated Merrick Garland to fill a seat left vacant by Antonio Scalia, RBG remarked, ‘There’s nothing in the Constitution that says the president stops being the president in his last year.’ Trump took heat on Monday for suggesting RBG’s granddaughter made up her dying wish, but Cockburn suspects he may be onto something. Or perhaps RBG’s mind had gone in her final moments. It’s certainly not a normal occurrence that someone sharp enough to be a Supreme Court justice publicly contradicts something they said just four years ago.
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The ‘dying wish’ will be used by progressives as a last-ditch effort to guilt Republicans into leaving the seat open until after the election. Considering just two years ago these people were propping up accusations of gang rape against the upstanding Brett Kavanaugh, Republicans should ignore this attempt at emotional manipulation.
