Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Normally the death of an 87-year-old woman is not a tragedy, especially when it's a life of greatness. Ruth Bader Ginsburg was one of this country's legal giants, and made lives better for all of us, most specifically women. But boy her timing was bad. If only she could have live four more months.

Her death yesterday, which probably gave Donald Trump a hard-on, now sends the country into chaos. Though there's only 45 days until the election, Trump will name a replacement (my money is on Amy Coney Barrett) and Mitch McConnell has, before Ginsburg's body was even cold, announced that this nominee will put to a vote. This, despite the assertion he pulled out of his ass that Supreme Court nominees should not be confirmed in an election year, displaying a brazen hypocrisy that is grandiose even by his despicable reputation.

There is some hope. Two Republican senators, Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins, have announced that they will not vote for a nominee until after inauguration day. "Fair is fair,"  Murkowski said, which are astonishing words from a Republican in this era. If two more senators join them, a Trump nominee will be dead in the water if Biden is elected. Or just one more (Mitt Romney, perhaps?) if Mark Kelly wins a special election in Arizona, and would be seated right away (this is if the process goes past election day, which is likely).

If Trump gets his way, but loses the presidency and the Senate goes Democrat, they could do a number of things, such as increasing the number of justices (the Constitution does not specify a number and has been higher before), eliminating the filibuster, or even making D.C. and Puerto Rico states, which would give the party for more senators. Be careful what you wish for, Mitch.

Ginsburg's death is a blow to the solar plexus of liberal/progressive Americans, and a nightmare come true. She recovered from so many bouts of cancer that we got to thinking she could hang on until a Biden presidency. She certainly did her best, as she had done throughout her life.

A rare Justice, she was a hero before she ever took the bench. Her series of victories combatting sex discrimination made her a legend. When Bill Clinton nominated her, it was said that she was the Thurgood Marshall of equality of the sexes. There was little opposition--she was approved 96-3. Even Orrin Hatch approved of her, and suggested her, even.

As a Justice she was steadfastly liberal, which pleased many but angered many as well. In some quarters, she is mourned as a great American, a diminutive woman with a massive intellect, as well as a heart. Others, I'm sure, have a perverse giddiness at this turn of events, envisioning the end of abortion rights, gay marriage, and Obamacare. Let the sideshow begin.