Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg publicly expressed doubt of Donald Trump’s presidential abilities.
She called Trump a “faker” who has “no consistency.” She added, “He says whatever comes into his head at the moment” and “He really has an ego.”
Pretty mild stuff, actually, when you’re critiquing Trump. Many liberals and conservatives and those in between have already judged similarly. Nothing new.
Personally, I like the idea that someone as intelligent and admired as Justice Ginsburg would share her cautionary feelings about leader-of-the-free-world-wannabe Donald Trump. If more influential leaders would have been as brave and forthright as Ginsburg, perhaps Trump would not be the Republican Party’s presidential nominee.
Those chiding RBG on this refer to the judicial system’s Code of Conduct, which maintains that judges keep an apolitical veneer and leave political concerns to the administrative and legislative branches of government. Lesser court judges must abide by this strict code, but it’s more of an ethics guideline for U.S. Supreme Court justices.
Another reason some say Ginsburg should not have publicized her opinions of Trump is that this election may end up like Bush vs. Gore in 2000. Knowing Trump’s penchant for hiring lawyers to “sweep debris from his paths to profit,” he would most likely try that approach if/or when he ends up losing to Hillary Clinton.
Justice Sandra Day O’Connor was not asked to recuse herself when she spoke out publicly against Al Gore in 2000.
And a few years later, Justice Antonin Scalia joined the infamous duck-hunting trip with sharpshooter VP Dick “Oil Can” Cheney, just prior to Cheney’s case being brought by Judicial Watch and the Sierra Club. Cheney cited executive privilege and the need for his energy task force files to be kept away from Judicial Watch and the Sierra Club. Reasoning? The energy task force decided it was time to open up more federal land to oil, natural gas and coal development. Scalia denied being a friend of Cheney and refused to recuse himself, so the Supreme Court remanded it to a lower court.
Yes, I can easily see that Ginsburg feels Trump is a threat to democracy. Trump displays behavior and speech that are vain, argumentative, uncompromising, self-important, lying, and incredibly offensive.
He and his businesses have been involved in approximately 3.500 lawsuits, per USA Today’s Nick Penzenstadler. He’s being sued for defrauding students at his Trump University. He also talks about wanting to “open up the libel laws” so he can bring suit against the media who are too negative about him.
A few of his more appalling public behavior and speech appear to include misogyny, nativism, protectionism, and racism. Trump has also publicized that he admires some of the most notorious dictators in the world, including North Korea’s Kim Jong Un. And he wants to bring back torture.
Responding to RBG’s criticism of him, Trump said, “Justice Ginsburg of the U.S. Supreme Court has embarrassed all by making very dumb political statements about me. Her mind is shot — resign!”
“He demonstrated what she was talking about,” CNN’s Paul Waldman wrote. “It may be a breach of decorum for a Supreme Court justice to criticize a presidential candidate, but it’s much worse for someone who would be president to call a justice feeble-minded and press her to step down.”
The new Republican platform is quite a departure from their earlier goal of being more inclusive to Hispanic and young voters. Instead, they’ve decided to not only go along with Trump’s extremism, but even further to the right to meet expectations of radical social and religious conservatives.
Trump’s dream wall between us and Mexico appears prominently. Other back-pedalings: no choice in women’s health care, coal as the new clean energy, rejection of further gun controls, bans on same-sex marriage, and state regulation of who uses what restrooms.
What happens to mainstream Republicans?
— Contact Marylin Olds at marylin.olds@gmail.com.
