The SCOTUS Justice is missing and we deserve answers.
On December 21, 2018, United States Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg quietly underwent surgery to remove cancerous growths from one of her lungs. The malignant spots were discovered after she had fallen and broken several ribs the month prior. Since being appointed by President Bill Clinton and taking the oath of office on the 10th of August in 1993, the Justice had not missed a single day of oral arguments. That was, until January of this year. Since the initial announcement that all cancer had been successfully removed and that she was recovering nicely, Ginsburg has been absent from the Supreme Court and has been steadily canceling all of her scheduled public appearances. In fact, the “Notorious RBG” hasn’t been seen in public at all since coming out of surgery.
This latest bout with cancer is not the first of the 85-year-old’s health problems. In 1999, she was diagnosed with colon cancer; while undergoing surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy, she didn’t miss a single day of work at the Court. In 2009, she once again underwent surgery for cancer, this time for pancreatic cancer. Again, she returned to work without missing a single day of her duties on the Supreme Court. In 2014, she had a stent placed in her right coronary artery. Again, not a single moment of her duties interrupted. However, as the Justice is much older now, it appears that another quick recovery is not going to happen. Justice Ginsburg has done her duty, serving on the Supreme Court for twenty-five years, after an already lengthy and distinguished legal career that started when she graduated from Columbia University in 1959. It’s time for her to take a well-deserved rest so she can fully recover and enjoy a hopefully long retirement.
Of course, she would run the risk of transforming from leftist darling to a demonized scapegoat if she were to do the right thing for herself. Ever since President Trump took office, the left has been obsessing over her health, hysterically acting as if her death would signify the end of America. They would rather force an old woman to suffer and struggle through her final years than allow President Trump to nominate another Supreme Court Justice. I am sure Justice Ginsburg watched the left turn viciously on Justice Kennedy when he retired, unleashing their temper tantrums on a man who had faithfully served his country for years. At the end of the day, it was Ginsburg who refused to retire during the Obama presidency in order to allow another liberal judge on the bench.
It is time to stop pretending that one woman is the incarnation of democracy, or even that she is the embodiment of American ideals on the Supreme Court. We can champion her accomplishments in lengthy documentaries, books, and movies; however, if she is unable to take care of herself, are we anything more than macabre obsessives pretending that her position as a placeholder is more important than her dignity? The Supreme Court is back in session on February 19th and if she isn’t there, what are we to think? It’s not about YouTube conspiracy theories, it is about transparency and personal responsibility.
