July 30, 2018

"'Ruth Bader Ginsburg' was trending on Twitter Sunday night, and liberals across the Internet panicked."

"'My heart stopped for a moment,' tweeted writer Wajahat Ali. Dedicated RBG fans feared the worst. They refused to look up the news. They prayed. They offered their kidneys. 'I was on my way to the hospital to donate all my organs,' wrote another fan. 'Please be alive, please be alive, please be alive …,' tweeted another."

So begins the WaPo article "Ruth Bader Ginsburg says she has ‘at least 5 more years’ on the Supreme Court. Her fans rejoice."

By the way, should a Supreme Court Justice have "fans"? Or perhaps a better way of putting it: Is it a compliment to a Supreme Court Justice to speak of her having "fans"?

I've been reading Bill Bryson's "Made in America: An Informal History of the English Language in the United States":
Fans in the sense of enthusiasts is presumed to be a shortening of fanatics, but the conclusion is only speculative. Mencken suggests that it may come from fancy, as in to fancy someone’s chances. In the early days [of baseball] supporters weren’t called fans but cranks, presumably because they cranked up the home team with their cheering.
I'm enjoying this book but I don't trust any of the assertions in it. I think that's interesting, but then I check. For example, I was just writing about baby boomers in the previous post, and it made me remember that Bryson said the term "baby boom" wasn't coined "until 1978, in an article in the New Yorker." But it's very easy to look up "baby boom" in the OED and see "baby boom" was used as far back as 1880 (and obviously not just for the post-WWII baby boom (in 1880, it was "the Iowa baby boom")). In 1941, Life Magazine had "Whatever the reasons, the U.S. baby boom is bad news for Hitler." Referring to the people born in a baby boom as "baby boomers" is newer, but it was around in 1963:
1963 Salt Lake Tribune 8 Dec. 83 Statistics show that..long hours of television viewing put an extra strain on chairs, causing upholstered seating pieces to wear out three to four times faster than in the days before television and the baby-boomers.
So what about "fans"? Putting aside a couple strange things in the 1600s, "fan" to refer to enthusiastic spectators, did originate with respect to baseball (as early as 1889), and the OED gives no regard to Mencken's theory but says it's a shortening of "fanatic" — that is, a crazy, delusional, unrealistically enthusiastic person.

As for "crank," the OED has this definition (in an entry that begins with "crank" as a bend in a path or a winding path:
colloq. (orig. U.S.). A person with a mental twist; one who is apt to take up eccentric notions or impracticable projects; esp. one who is enthusiastically possessed by a particular crotchet or hobby; an eccentric, a monomaniac. [This is probably a back-formation < cranky adj.1 4.] 
IN THE COMMENTS: Referring to the previous post, dda6ga dda6ga says:
Combine two postings; does the notorious RBG like to be called Grandma?
Sharp question. I love when commenters connect to other posts. And I know the answer to the question: Bubbe.

And here's an article from The Forward, "The Battle Over What To Call Your Grandma":
[S]adly, outside the ultra-Orthodox community fewer Jewish women want their grandchildren to call them bubbe, claiming it’s too Old World. Perhaps, though, the real reason is that bubbe is simply too Jewish. So now some grandmothers are choosing the Israeli word, “savta,” whereas others simply resort to English-language monikers.

It seems the term bubbe has taken on negative connotations, similar to many other terms related to Jewish women, as in the classic “Jewish mother” or “mother-in-law.” The B-word is seen as a vestige of a previous era, causing modern, educated women to run the other way....

Negative associations with “bubbe” appear even in classic Yiddish literature and folklore. In Abraham Goldfaden’s famous operetta, “The Witch,” the sorceress herself is called Bubbe Yakhne. Morris Warshawsky’s song, “Di Mezinke Oysgegebn” [“Marrying Off My Youngest Daughter”], describes the many lively scenes at a wedding, including one verse where “Bubbe does the kazatsky” — an image that’s apparently meant to evoke laughter, since grandmothers are expected to sit quietly and with dignity, rather than to clown around and dance “like the men.”...

A Jewish grandmother can — like me — be a Barnard grad, an editor and even something of a boxer, yet at the same time instill in her grandchildren the importance of Jewish memory. No word captures this vital role better than bubbe.
ADDED: Why did RBG choose 5 years as the length of time she sees herself serving? That would only get her to 2023, a point in the next presidential term that gives the winner of the 2020 election the power to appoint her successor.

First, it's a milestone year for her. She'll be 90. But she's not promising to step down upon turning 90, because she said "at least 5 years."

If we see her statement as political — and not simply about round numbers — there are 2 reasons to put her prediction in the form that she did. She's accustoming us to the idea of a Justice properly serving when she is in her 90s, in case Trump is reelected and she must hang on until 2024. But she's also implicitly stressing the importance of defeating Trump in 2020. She's found a subtle clever way to say I can last another term and I can't last another term. Both statements are important politically, but said plainly, they contradict. And a Supreme Court Justice shouldn't speak plainly when speaking plainly makes political motivation plain.

137 comments:

Curious George said...

"My heart stopped for a moment..."

RBG's can't be too far behind.

Henry said...

How hard is it to make something trend on twitter? Just the trend, sans any content. It's a meta hysteria.

ga6 said...

Combine two postings; does the notorious RBG like to be called Grandma?

BamaBadgOR said...

Ginsburg thinks she has at least five years left? I'll take the under.

Tommy Duncan said...

"Ruth Bader Ginsburg says she has ‘at least 5 more years’ on the Supreme Court. Her fans rejoice."

5 more years of writing dissenting minority opinions.

If Trump gets a second term 5 years will work out well assuming a Republican Senate.

Sebastian said...

"By the way, should a Supreme Court Justice have "fans"? Or perhaps a better way of putting it: Is it a compliment to a Supreme Court Justice to speak of her having "fans"?"

As you know, but the dictionary doesn't, the answers are strictly situational: prog justices can properly have fans, and for them it's a compliment. After all, they are team players.

JackWayne said...

It’s sad that a justice wants to be on the bench until 90. OTOH, she’s willing to go when Trump has the nomination.

BarrySanders20 said...

Upholstered is also an interesting word. Wikis says "The word upholstery comes from the Middle English word upholder, which referred to a tradesman who held up his goods."

Not sure how that fits into the conversation. Maybe RBG's fans are holding her up.

rehajm said...

You might consider RBG as a cute liberal bubbe so I suppose she could have leftie fans. More sinister is the truth that lefties plotted and schemed for years to circumvent the legislative branch by appointing leftie judges willing to just make shit up- with The Supremes as the backstop- and for that RBG has fans.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Weekend at Ruth's.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

She'll stay on even if she's napping/asleep/half-dead. It's not about her old tired logic, it's about her reliable rubber-stamp leftwing vote.

BarrySanders20 said...

RBG Fans: "Justice departed is justice denied!"

rehajm said...

OTOH, she’s willing to go when Trump has the nomination.

Yes. Of course, the implication here is that is inconceivable Trump will win a second term. This is why so many lefties are wandering the Earth with low level anxiety and throwing tantrums. They were told thousands of time Hillary! would win! Now they're being told all will be well when we win back the House and Senate! Trump will NEVER win a second term!

Tommy Duncan said...

Ruth has invoked a self-inflicted jinx. Never make predictions of your longevity.

Fernandinande said...

'My heart didn't actually stop at all, of course' tweet-signaled a completely non-marginalized social entrepreneur of initiatives that have positive impacts for marginalized communities .

Dedicated virtue signalers were delighted at the opportunity to indulge in their passion. They read the news, but claimed they didn't. They didn't pray, but wrote that they did. They even pretended to offer their kidneys, knowing they'd never be taken up on it. 'I was writing about how I was on my way the hospital to donate all my organs,' wrote another signaler, 'but obviously I was really just sitting in front of a keyboard at home.'

Chuck said...

It's a good question, Althouse. Should a Justice have "fans"? Is it a compliment to a Justice, to have "fans"?

I'm not sure of the answer, but I'd have a had time denying that I was a "fan" of Justice Scalia. And now, in the offices of the Federalist Society, there is a large picture of Scalia's private Court chambers when he was alive with a mounted mule deer. I think Justice Scalia had an very large number of fans.

Henry said...

"By the way, should a Supreme Court Justice have "fans"? Or perhaps a better way of putting it: Is it a compliment to a Supreme Court Justice to speak of her having "fans"?"

Every one of the most prominent Supreme Court Justice has fans. Dead and retired ones too.

Fandom has nothing to do with virtue. Soccer hooligans are fans as are Beyonce's BeyHive.

Is it a compliment to the Justice? Depends on the fans.

Smells Like Teen Spirit is about fans. But so is Frank Turner's delightful Try This at Home.

Patrick said...

Sort of off topic. Prof., but if you haven't read Bill Bryson's "One Summer: America in 1927" you should do so. Knowing your affinity for Britain, I suspect you have, bit it's a terrific book and I wouldn't want to take any chances.

rehajm said...

'I was writing about how I was on my way the hospital to donate all my organs,' wrote another signaler, 'but obviously I was really just sitting in front of a keyboard at home.'

Just once I'd like to see the confirmation of one leftie who turned in their passport because of Trump or just moved to Canada until Trump is out of office instead sitting in front of their keyboard at home or talking about it with Marc Maron.

Mike Sylwester said...

Thank you, Ruth Ginsburg, for not retiring while Barack Obama was President.

Thank you, Joe Biden, for establishing the Biden Rule.

Thank you, Mitch McConnell, for upholding the Biden Rule.

Thank you, Harry Reid, for abolishing the filibuster for all federal judges.

Thank you, Chuck Schumer, for filibustering the nomination of Neil Gorsuch.

Thank you, Mitch McConnel, for abolishing the filibuster for Supreme Court justices.

Thank you, Anthony Kennedy, for retiring while Donald Trump was President.

mccullough said...

The RBG fans are the same as The Federalist Society dorks. People who worship judicial power.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

I've always thought of the word "fanatic" as describing someone who has a single minded focus on: a subject, a person, objects, art, political ideas, sports teams etc.

Sometimes the fanatic is focused on the positives. Support. Love. Elevation of the focus of the fanatic. Other times the fanatic is focused on the negatives.....aka Trump Derangement Syndrome.

A person can be a fanatic about cats. Loving, obsessing, owning etc. OR a fanatic in hating and shooting every cat they see.

A fanatic about a celebrity could be a fan in support of the objectified celebrity....or could be a dangerous stalker.

Words are nuanced.

Quaestor said...

Fernandistein wrote: They even pretended to offer their kidneys, knowing they'd never be taken up on it.

I thought of all the celebrities who vowed to quit the nation for Canada or Spain or New Zealand if Trump somehow defied the experts and got elected rather than the predestined Hildebeest. Today is like every other day in Progressiveland — Yesterday is erased. Tomorrow is pre-ordained.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

Chuck said: It's a good question, Althouse. Should a Justice have "fans"? Is it a compliment to a Justice, to have "fans"?

I'm not sure of the answer, but I'd have a had time denying that I was a "fan" of Justice Scalia.


It is a good question and I think that according to this definition of Fanatic...."a person with an extreme and uncritical enthusiasm or zeal, as in religion or politics". The answer should be NO.

There is a huge difference between fandom and being and admirer of a person. Admiring Justice Scalia versus UNCRITICAL enthusiasm (almost deifying) of RBG. You can admire someone and still admit their faults and foibles. A "fan" will ignore anything that could possibly tarnish his idol....such as RBG falling asleep at the Court Bench and drooling into her oatmeal.

tcrosse said...

It's like the scene in Peter Pan, when Tinkerbell is on her death bed, and all the boys and girls have to applaud that they believe in fairies in order to save her.

Chuck said...

mccullough said...
The RBG fans are the same as The Federalist Society dorks. People who worship judicial power.


"The Federalist Society dorks" are quite likely the most effective, most efficient, most-widely praised (among conservatives) part of the Trump Administration.

Quaestor said...

Sometimes the fanatic is focused on the positives. Support. Love. Elevation of the focus of the fanatic. Other times the fanatic is focused on the negatives.....aka Trump Derangement Syndrome.

Someone once quipped that the polar extremes of humanity are defined by people who own more than one cat and those who own one than one gun. In my experience, the "more than one gun" types are not typically barking mad, which can't be said for the multi-catters.

tim maguire said...

After seeing the reaction to Kennedy and knowing what a bunch of shrieking lunatics her fans are (no, it is not appropriate for a Supreme Court justice to have fans), RBG might be afraid to retire.

gilbar said...

i'd always assumed that they were right, and it came from being a FANatic
BUT! It Does make So Much More sense that one is saying that
Althouse is a Brewers FANcier .

Personally, i'm a Cubs fancier, 'cause they're Cute, and They ROAR! oh; and I Fancy The Cubs,
'CAUSE THEY'RE THE BEST IN THE NATIONAL LEAGUE!!!
GO CUBS GO!

Birkel said...

One wonders how tiresome it will be for a very old Justice to write dissents on the cultural issues, the cases that matter the most to that Justice. There's almost no hope that Ginsburg ever again occupies a majority position.

One can imagine the hope that Sotomayor must maintain that some day she will be in a majority position. But with another nomination or two Trump will remove all but the most distant such hope.

When the Republicans improve their number in the Senate, come January 1, it will be glorious to consider how little hope the Leftist Collectivists will have. So long as their despondence doesn't turn to violence, it will be glorious.

tim maguire said...

tcrosse said...It's like the scene in Peter Pan, when Tinkerbell is on her death bed, and all the boys and girls have to applaud that they believe in fairies in order to save her.

+1

Tommy Duncan said...

Eventually it will become apparent to the left that RBG made a very selfish decision to not retire during the Obama era. The left will, of course, blame Trump who is literally Hitler for the loss of their entitled RBG seat on the court.

None of this would have happened if Trump and Putin hadn't colluded to hack the election using piss tapes to keep Hillary from campaigning in Wisconsin to win the votes of the deplorable gun and God clingers.

Chuck said...

Dust Bunny Queen said...
Chuck said: It's a good question, Althouse. Should a Justice have "fans"? Is it a compliment to a Justice, to have "fans"?

I'm not sure of the answer, but I'd have a had time denying that I was a "fan" of Justice Scalia.

It is a good question and I think that according to this definition of Fanatic...."a person with an extreme and uncritical enthusiasm or zeal, as in religion or politics". The answer should be NO.

There is a huge difference between fandom and being and admirer of a person. Admiring Justice Scalia versus UNCRITICAL enthusiasm (almost deifying) of RBG. You can admire someone and still admit their faults and foibles. A "fan" will ignore anything that could possibly tarnish his idol....such as RBG falling asleep at the Court Bench and drooling into her oatmeal.


My thinking was more along the lines of the way(s) in which I was a Scalia admirer. I have committed passages of some of his dissents to memory. If Justice Scalia went to the opera, I wanted to know which opera it was, what company did the performance, and what Scalia thought of it. If Scalia wrote a book, I wanted to read it and if he did a book tour, I wanted to know all the stops and what he said at each one. If Scalia read a book, I wanted to know what it was and why he chose it. Where he went hunting and with whom; what he hung on his office walls; what his children did in their professional lives... I have been interested in all of that.

I didn't always agree with Justice Scalia; it was only about 98.9% of the time that I agreed with him.

So that is why I might feel dishonest if I denied being a "fan" of Justice Scalia.

Quaestor said...

Ruth Bader Ginsberg says she has "at least five more years" on the Supreme Court...

Something tells me that oral argument sessions of the Court are going to increasing resemble a weekend at Bernie's.

gspencer said...

Consider this. Kavanaugh will be confirmed, making a Firm Five. Ruth Buzzy, who delusionally thinks she’s in charge of her life span, suffers the snip of the Abhorred Shears of Atropos, with DJT naming her replacement (yes, the Senate will remain GOP). Breyer, longing to spend his final days eating Breyers® Ice Cream with his grandkids and realizing that he will now be facing a Solid Six, responds to the loss of the Buzz, by crying, “What’s the use; I can no longer effectively legislate for the Democrat Party from the bench,” and resigns. The Don goes into action, and the Solid Six becomes the Solid Seven.

Then, in late 2022 or mid 2023, Thomas & Alito, each of whom will by then be in his mid-70s, come to DJT (yes, there will be a second term), announce their retirements, and ask the Don to replace them with people in the mold of Scalia so long as each replacement is in his/her mid-40s. In time Roberts does the same, though he’ll be coming to Mike Pence. The Solid Seven remains solid for decades.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

dda6ga dda6ga said...

Combine two postings; does the notorious RBG like to be called Grandma?

Brett Kavanaugh should try it and see.

Birkel said...

There are so many better reasons for Chuck, fopdoodle extraordinaire to feel dishonest.

But he won't.

traditionalguy said...

Have no fear. The Dems will hook her up to ventilators, feeding tubes and IVs and keep counting her votes from eye blinks and semi death rattles. Her brain may be dead, or at least equal to today's brain, but her body will out live them all.

gerry said...

Just once I'd like to see the confirmation of one leftie who turned in their passport because of Trump or just moved to Canada until Trump is out of office instead sitting in front of their keyboard at home or talking about it with Marc Maron. (rehajm AT 8:37 a.m.)

I read a Twitter "thread" (I don't do Twitter so I do not know WTH it is called) yesterday for a few moments, and it was about President Trump's assertion that his poll numbers were higher than ever and even exceeded Abraham Lincoln's. The prog participants went chickpea-nuts over that assertion, and it was entertaining looking over the tweets ridiculing President Trump's "stupidity " and "ignorance". I suppose in the Progressive camp virtue registering your virtue is more important than responding to troll-bait. Trump is a master!

William said...

RBG looks good for her age. Just for one thing, she's alive, technically speaking........Fandom for Supreme Court Judges doesn't endure. Oliver Wendell Homes, Earl Warren, Justice Douglas--who now sings their praises?......If you want to be remembered, the key is to botch a really important decision, The fame of Tainey and his written opinion in the Dred Scott case has got to be one of the most quoted Supreme Court decisions ever.

gilbar said...

gspencer, you forgot to add:
Elena Kagan, realizes that there's very little point of hanging out with the 'wise' latina;
and moves to the middle, concurring with the Solid Seven more often than not

gilbar said...

traditionalguy said...
Have no fear. The Dems will hook her up to ventilators, feeding tubes and IVs and keep counting her votes from eye blinks and semi death rattles. Her brain may be dead, or at least equal to today's brain, but her body will out live them all.

what makes you think this hasn't Already happened?

William said...

It's hard to look thin and stylish when you're called Bubbe.

rehajm said...

If you want to be remembered, the key is to botch a really important decision

HA! Score it E5.

Quaestor said...

Ruth Bader Ginsberg says she has "at least five more years" on the Supreme Court...

Something tells me the High Court will have to upgrade from air conditioning to refrigeration.

Related humor.

dreams said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Bay Area Guy said...

How far have you fallen as a political party and societal sub-culture, if all your hopes and dreams rests with an 87- year old Grandma in a robe?

Anne in Rockwall, TX said...

"So that is why I might feel dishonest if I denied being a "fan" of Justice Scalia."

Chuck, I don't recall right now and can't look back at the archives, but what was your reaction to Justice Scalia's passing? Natural causes or something else? I have been leaning towards something else, but my guess is you would know the particulars about Justice Scalia much better than I.

Serious question.

Chuck said...

Annie C said...
"So that is why I might feel dishonest if I denied being a "fan" of Justice Scalia."

Chuck, I don't recall right now and can't look back at the archives, but what was your reaction to Justice Scalia's passing? Natural causes or something else? I have been leaning towards something else, but my guess is you would know the particulars about Justice Scalia much better than I.

Serious question.


Natural causes, of course. I'm aware of exactly zero evidence to suggest anything else.

But then again, I never read "InfoWars," so I am probably missing out on all sorts of fascinating news.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

The RBG fans are the same as The Federalist Society dorks. People who worship judicial power.

They might be equal but they are opposites. The Federalist Society fears judicial power unconstrained by textualist or originalist reasoning to tie decisions to the the Constitution. We fear a "living breathing Constitution" because such untethered ideas have generated the worst decisions and most mock-worthy phrases in court history, such as, "define one's own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life."

Anne in Rockwall, TX said...

"But then again, I never read "InfoWars," so I am probably missing out on all sorts of fascinating news."

Neither have I, so I guess I'm missing out as well. Thank you for responding.

Trumpit said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
tcrosse said...

How far have you fallen as a political party and societal sub-culture, if all your hopes and dreams rests with an 87- year old Grandma in a robe?

It is she alone who stands between us and re-institution of slavery, imprisonment of gays and trans, prohibition of contraceptives, repeal of Medicare and Social Security,
and mass-deportation of immigrants. Or so I'm told.

Trumpit said...

"How far have you fallen as a political party and societal sub-culture, if all your hopes and dreams rests with an 87- year old Grandma in a robe?"

You know how to wrap a sexist, misogynist, and ageist comment into one sentence. Well done as usual. Stupidity should be brief.

tcrosse said...

You know how to wrap a sexist, misogynist, and ageist comment into one sentence. Well done as usual. Stupidity should be brief.

You forgot anti-semitic. Try again.

buwaya said...

Setting aside all the legalist nonsense, as its plain that anything at all can be rationalized through torturing language - it is all about the votes, it amounts to a legislative body.

Your Supreme Court is actually a sort of House of Lords, as in the old British system. Or closer to it than the Senate.

The Senate was explicitly given this role, more or less, though missing it in important ways as Senators are both elected and represent States. The Lords in the British system were born to it and represented only themselves.

~ Gordon Pasha said...

After hubris, nemesis. Only Babe Ruth could call his homer.

stevew said...

I always heard that 'fan' was short for fanatic - which would apply very nicely in this situation.

-sw

MikeR said...

Doubt Ginsburg has that many "fans". They are devoted to her liberal votes on the Court.

Bay Area Guy said...

@Trumpit,

Stupidity should be brief.

Agreed. And superfluity does not vitiate.

MikeR said...

I am called Zeidie, my wife is called Safta. Inconsistent, but the grandkids don't seem to mind yet. I believe my mechutanim are called Zeidie and Bubbie.
My kids call my mother Grandma.
Summary: no one cares.

Gahrie said...

And a Supreme Court Justice shouldn't speak plainly when speaking plainly makes political motivation plain.

I thought the whole point of lifetime appointments was so that the justices wouldn't have political motivations.

mccullough said...

Ginsburg has fans. Some people worship power. Just like Chuck’s adoration of Scalia. He’s so proud of the Federalist Society. It’s a fan club made up of mediocre white guys who worship slightly less mediocre white guys like Roberts and Kavanaugh. Roberts folded on Obamacare and Kavanaugh wrote the blueprint on it. These guys are puddles just like Chuck.

Xmas said...

Hubris? Is that hubris? "I'll be here 5 more years" is a statement said by a tragic figure that is likely to die in the next scene.

Chuck said...

mccullough said...
Ginsburg has fans. Some people worship power. Just like Chuck’s adoration of Scalia. He’s so proud of the Federalist Society. It’s a fan club made up of mediocre white guys who worship slightly less mediocre white guys like Roberts and Kavanaugh. Roberts folded on Obamacare and Kavanaugh wrote the blueprint on it. These guys are puddles just like Chuck.


Well I am a bit proud of the work of the Federalist Society. ("Proud" might not be the right word, since I can take no credit for it.) My pointed mentioning it here, and engaging you on it, is because it is so clearly something for which Trump is now taking credit. I wonder how many movement conservatives Trump got to vote for him, by making these extraordinary (and in some cases un-presidential) promises on judicial nominations.

I do have a pretty clear understanding; you hate the Federalist Society despite their having done such magnificent work on an out-sourcing basis for the Trump Administration. I have to accept that it is your God-given American right to hate the Federalist Society if you want to, because I sure cherish my right to hate Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, InfoWars, Steve Hilton (has anybody seen THAT train wreck of a show?!?), Steve Bannon, et cetera.

narciso said...

A federalist credential doesn't make you immune to scrutiny.

narciso said...

Eisenstein and miss brand are the outliers.

Earnest Prole said...

Is it a compliment to a Supreme Court Justice to speak of her having "fans"?

In a word, yes. Scalia's fans included not only conservatives but many liberals -- most prominently RBG, who said she couldn't have asked for a better opponent.

etbass said...

Can't we have a post here anymore, without a long treatise on the "word" itself? Yes, I know words have meaning but the most relevant meaning is the instant intent of the author and that is usually pretty clear from the context. Hardly any writers spend a lot of time pondering all the permutations of the words they use.

walter said...

So Chuck, in your hate list, why not Rush Limbaugh?

WisRich said...

Those "fans" will curse her name for not retiring under Obama if she passes away under Trump.

buwaya said...

The Federalist Society did some good work in keeping the channel full of conservative prospects, and helped many through the cursus honorum. This while the ideology of the system of professional preparation and recruitment was trending ever more left. The need for something like the Federalist society, a palliative for a deadly illbess, is itself telling.

However, they are now profiting from those (whether "Federalists" or some other conservative organization) put in the channels from 20 or 30 years ago.

It is no longer the case. The channel, looking forwards, is much drier, there are fewer and fewer all the time, as in both undergrad and law schools the conservatives are being driven out or shut up.

This is a good illustration of the "conservative movement" world view. In many ways it is a time warp, assuming a world that no longer exists. And it is ultimately doomed as it only offers palliatives to a moribund patient.

Yancey Ward said...

She was trying to buck up her fans spirits, but the fact is she is at an age that death tomorrow would surprise no one. Will she last five years? I think the odds are not in her favor. She should have retired in 2014, but that is water under the bridge for the Democrats.

Danno said...

RBG, didn't she play Norman Bate's mother in Psycho?

stevew said...

Having fans would be unseemly for a Supreme Court justice only if she actively does her job so as to cultivate fans and fandom.

-sw

Chuck said...

walter said...
So Chuck, in your hate list, why not Rush Limbaugh?


Okay with me. Let's add him. The Democrat/Left has no one like Rush Limbaugh, do they? Somebody who will use their top-rated show on a weekly if not daily basis to slam the leadership of the party. Accusing them of weakness and bad faith. Who does more criticism of Republican leaders these days? Rush Limbaugh, or Lawrence O'Donnell?

In fairness to Limbaugh, he was an agnostic on Trump through the primaries. Even Limbaugh recognizes that Trump is no conservative. Limbaugh couldn't even conceal how ironic it was that all of his old iconic phrases, like "The Limbaugh Institute of Advanced Conservative Studies" and such, could not hold in the era of Trump.

walter said...

And why? Because the Left has no equivalent? Not sure what that has to do with it when they have a variety of Dem "journolists" pretending to report news.

Yancey Ward said...

However, it is fairly rare for a Justice to die while on the court- it has happened twice in the last 65 years.

I still predict that Thomas retires next year if the Republicans hold the Senate this Fall.

walter said...

Ah..I get it..he's too hard on establishment Republicans.
He's far less pointed in that regard than Levin.
Is there a media (radio/tv) commentator host on the Right you like?

buwaya said...

Much of the Republican party, especially its 2010s leadership, does deal in bad faith.
They promised their voters a great deal of that which they were unwilling to deliver, once they had the chance.

It is quite remarkable to examine what their planks were ( in 2010 for instance) vs their rhetoric today.

Yancey Ward said...

It will be interesting to see what happens if one of the liberal justices becomes physically and mentally incompacitated during the next two years. Rehnquist missed almost two months of oral arguments in the Winter of 2005 as he was dying, but was still engaged in the court's activities, and only died during the Summer after the court ended its term. Scalia's death was sudden with no indications it was likely to happen. If Ginsburg, Sotomayor, or Breyer were to suffer a debilitating stroke that left them in a coma, what would happen? Interesting times we live in.

hombre said...

“[S]adly, outside the ultra-Orthodox community fewer Jewish women want their grandchildren to call them bubbe, claiming it’s too Old World. Perhaps, though, the real reason is that bubbe is simply too Jewish.”

Secular progressive Jews revolt. (Pun intended.)

As for RBG, she, like the Clintons and Elizabeth Warren, is an avatar of the unprincipled left.

bagoh20 said...

"they have a variety of Dem "journolists" pretending to report news."

Which is exactly the reason for the popularity of Rush, Fox News, and much of talk radio. The rest of the media is ignoring half the market when they aren't openly insulting and fighting them. It's not true for everyone, but for many people, Trump was right to call the media the enemy of the American people. They are, and they openly show that they consider themselves such against the deplorables.

Michael Fitzgerald said...

Some commenter on the "Hillary shows up and Bette Midler freaks" post yesterday said that it was pure adulation that thrills these sickly old scumbags and keeps them out in public and in front of the cameras. Ginsburg is proof of that theory. There hasn't been a judge so boldly bigoted and malicious since Roy Bean.

hombre said...

Blogger mccullough said...
“The RBG fans are the same as The Federalist Society dorks. People who worship judicial power.”

Actually, if they worship anything in that context, “The Federalist Society dorks” worship judicial restraint. One is not like the other.

buwaya said...

The realization of the split of the base vs the Republican establishment came to me during the primaries, as early as the autumn of 2015. Everyone and his brother could see that Trumps' line was selling extremely well.

These others were all professional politicians, well and expensively advised. A professionals move would be to see a parade forming, and run to its head. An advisors role would be to detect such a parade.

But all of these gentlemen left that parade to Trump.

This puzzled me at the time, and long after. Its all clearer now.

hombre said...

“So long as [the Democrat’s] despondence doesn't turn to violence, it will be glorious.”

Their despondence has already turned to violence. It would still be glorious if the RINOs, particularly Jess Sessions weren’t such wimps.

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

Lefties ought to stock up on RU-486 in case RBG suddenly kicks the kazatsky.

funsize said...

Patrick: yes, that is an excellent book. I enjoyed it as well.

Quaestor: What happens when you own more than one cat, and more than one gun? Does it even out?

semi-related: I like one of the Spanish word for fan, hincha or hinchado. It means swollen, as the fans are swollen with pride. (there is also aficion, but that is much less colorful).

Chuck said...

walter said...
Ah..I get it..he's too hard on establishment Republicans.
He's far less pointed in that regard than Levin.
Is there a media (radio/tv) commentator host on the Right you like?


Mixing "reporters" and analysts, there are a number of people whom I like on FNC. Brett Baier (mostly); Brit Hume; Chris Wallace; and lately, I've begun to really like Leland Vittert. I like George Will of course. And Bill Kristol. I particularly like Jonah Goldberg. I always liked Bernard Goldberg and I miss him terribly. I cannot understand why he does not have a very important TV gig somewhere. I like Howie Kurtz's FNC show. I used to like Tucker Carlson, and I still think he has real talent and intellect, but I don't like the games that his producers play with catnip material for the Fox crowd.

I get a kick out of Ann Coulter, and Greg Gutfeld. They are funny and enjoyable humorists. I always liked the fact that Coulter used to work for my U.S. Senator from Michigan, Spence Abraham. That was a Senate seat that Abraham converted from Democrat Don Riegel, and he lost it in a razor-thin election to Debbie Stabenow. That was one of the most heartbreaking congressional losses of this young century. Abraham's office was cultivating lots of young conservative stars. Having lost, Abraham was immediately made the Secretary of Energy, because he was too good not to keep around.

I like almost everybody on the WSJ editorial pages and I think Holman Jenkins is the best columnist in America today. the extent to which some of them, like Kim Strassel, have become so solicitous of Trump is a bit disappointing but I am always happy to hear from her. I'm a subscriber.

I like almost everybody -- Andy McCarthy included -- at National Review, even if I don't always agree.

They aren't my ideology, but I listen to NPR a lot (because I don't want to listen to 175 commercials for "My Pillow" on AM Right-Wing radio), and like Ann Althouse I have a subscription to the New Yorker. They are, however left-leaning, smart people and I like being able to reckon with them on their terms.

Michael Fitzgerald said...

Reading comments now. Curious George opening the commentary with a cruelly neutral LOL. Tcrosse crushing a Grand Slam with the Tinkerbell line. Chuck @9:02 chumming for Drago... Going back to comments now to see if he bites.

narciso said...

strassel should get a Pulitzer, along with Atkinson, and sarah carter, but it's only fusion bottom feeders, like Haberman, and the one at the post, do now a days, that whole last issue of the standard, a dumpster fire from goldsmith, from Feinstein staffer doss, covering the bad crowdstrike attribution,

Chuck said...

Michael Fitzgerald said...
Reading comments now. Curious George opening the commentary with a cruelly neutral LOL. Tcrosse crushing a Grand Slam with the Tinkerbell line. Chuck @9:02 chumming for Drago... Going back to comments now to see if he bites.


Isn't this a nice page, without Drago? Today when good-faith commenters have asked me a question, I have responded in good faith and it is an actual discussion. What Drago would do is to accuse me of a bunch of left-wing alliances, ignore the numerous times that I have stated the opposite, and continue to post repetitive diatribes against me without pausing to see if I even had a response.

A comments page, without the Derangement Syndrome quality that Drago epitomizes. And it's a lot nicer!

I wouldn't have mentioned Drago had you not brought him up. For me to have done that would have been the most "Drago" of things. Yet another thread like many others in which Drago attacks me even when I haven't read the post or commented on the page.

Chuck Derangement Syndrome.

Michael Fitzgerald said...

I know, Chuck. It's quiet.... Too quiet...

narciso said...

I think coulter, has a good researcher, but her mouth gets ahead of the findings, now we may finally, purge Stabenow through the air lock, with john james, after lo so many years,

Chuck said...

narciso said...
I think coulter, has a good researcher, but her mouth gets ahead of the findings, now we may finally, purge Stabenow through the air lock, with john james, after lo so many years,


You think John James will even win the primary? I just mailed my absentee ballot, voting for Sandy Pensler. I am voting for every Republican who is not endorsed by Trump.

Richard Dolan said...

I'be been told that five years is also the actuarial life expectancy used by insurance companies once you get to a certain age. RBG is there and then some.

narciso said...

now in my district, a slithy tove, named Nancy soderberg, former ted kennedy assistant, nsc aide responsible for the Korean framework, is trying to slither into the seat,

walter said...

"Sandy Pensler has a plan to put Michigan First. He will create jobs, renegotiate bad trade deals, and crack down on illegal immigration. Join Team Pensler "
Sounds familiar...

Michael K said...

I am voting for every Republican who is not endorsed by Trump.

Loser Chuck. You need a tee short with a big L on it.

Michael K said...


Blogger narciso said...
strassel should get a Pulitzer, along with Atkinson, and sarah carter


Yes. Strassel has been terrific.

Michael K said...

the extent to which some of them, like Kim Strassel, have become so solicitous of Trump is a bit disappointing but I am always happy to hear from her. I'm a subscriber.

Chuck has that unerring sense of the loser to attack the best.

Drago said...

LLR and self-described Smear Merchant Chuck: "Today when good-faith commenters have asked me a question, I have responded in good faith and it is an actual discussion."

Good-faith comments and self-described smear merchants are, by definition, mutually exclusive.

Yancey Ward said...

Buwaya,

Self-styled political intellectuals hate to be shown as idiots who know nothing at all. Trump did a great deal showing these people up, and will never be forgiven for it

Drago said...

LLR Chuck takes time out from continuously praising left wing hack "journalists" to complain about Kim Strassel simply listing the facts of dem/lefty actions taken under the "magnificent" obama.

LLR Chuck doesn't like that.

Not one bit.

Not. One. Bit.

Reasonable inferences may be made....

Drago said...

LLR Chuck: "I am voting for every Republican who is not endorsed by Trump"

"republican's" like Bill Kristol, Steve Schmidt, Nicole Wallace, Max Boot, etc.

Yancey Ward said...

John James has the best shot at beating Stabenow, but, of course, Chuck doesn't believe that at all.

narciso said...

I'm sure he will point out, miss strassel's errors in fact, snorfle, I know john Solomon deserves credit along with sarah carter, holman Jenkins has been pretty solid as well lee smith at the tablet, has been very good, then again he's been solid since the 00s,

Drago said...

Yancey Ward: "John James has the best shot at beating Stabenow, but, of course, Chuck doesn't believe that at all."

I think you just put your finger on the reason Chuck doesn't support him.

But LLR Chuck really really wants to beat Stabenow....(wink wink)

narciso said...

like this latest offering,

http://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/399448-whatever-happened-to-the-unmaskings-probe#.W18MuD_vcxc.twitter

Chuck said...

Well, here comes Drago. Discussion over. Buh-bye.

Drago said...

"Dick Durbin republican" Chuck: "Well, here comes Drago. Discussion over. Buh-bye."

LLR Chuck probably wants to catch the tape replay of his favorite Stolen Valor dem Richard Blumenathal on Chuck's beloved MSNBC this morning.

Drago said...

Adios Chuck.

Don't let the Smear Merchant flap on the door hit you in the rear on your way out to the Stabenow function.

narciso said...

there's ergot in the water up in conneticut,


https://twitter.com/ChuckRossDC/status/1023939393562636288

PB said...

It's bad karma for to make such a boast. Just saying...

Quaestor said...

funsize wrote: What happens when you own more than one cat, and more than one gun? Does it even out?

It either evens out or you lock yourself in a clock tower somewhere.

tcrosse said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
tcrosse said...

"Ruth Bader Ginsburg says she has ‘at least 5 more years’ on the Supreme Court. Her fans rejoice."

How do you make God laugh ? You tell Him your plans.

Fritz said...

William said...
RBG looks good for her age. Just for one thing, she's alive, technically speaking........Fandom for Supreme Court Judges doesn't endure. Oliver Wendell Homes, Earl Warren, Justice Douglas--who now sings their praises?......If you want to be remembered, the key is to botch a really important decision, The fame of Tainey and his written opinion in the Dred Scott case has got to be one of the most quoted Supreme Court decisions ever.


But not quite famous enough to get his name spelled right.

FullMoon said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Drago said...

This is quite a day.

LLR Chuck pretending he didn't self-identify as a smear merchant who was only here to make Trump look bad, readering asserting the dems had nothing to do with slavery and Jim Crow, and Inga on another thread completely oblivious to obama directly funding known Al Qaeda affiliates.

In other words, a typical Monday.

Real American said...

no need to wonder why she chose the age of 90. She says why:

“I’m now 85,” Ginsburg said, according to CNN. “My senior colleague, Justice John Paul Stevens, he stepped down when he was 90, so think I have about at least five more years.”

FullMoon said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jim at said...

"'My heart stopped for a moment,' tweeted writer Wajahat Ali. Dedicated RBG fans feared the worst. They refused to look up the news. They prayed. They offered their kidneys. 'I was on my way to the hospital to donate all my organs,' wrote another fan. 'Please be alive, please be alive, please be alive …,' tweeted another."

Get. A. Fucking. Life.

Jeebus. To allow politics to control you this much is insane.

MadisonMan said...

Maybe someone has pointed this out, but 85-yo women have a life expectancy of 6 more years. They have a 75% chance of living 3 years, to 88.

Saying you'll be around for 5 is just tempting fate, something I try not to do, but I wonder: How long have other women ancestors in RBG's family lived?

Jim at said...

Stupidity should be brief. - Trumpit

Give it a shot sometime.

MadisonMan said...

btw -- this post has the label 'dda6ga dda6ga' What does that mean? :)

Larry J said...

Ginsberg may plan on serving on the supreme court for at least 5 more years, but she needs to be aware of the adage: "Man plans. God laughs." From the looks of her, it's quite possible she doesn't have 5 more years left in her.

dreams said...

I can't bet against Ruth Bader Ginsburg, American Jews have good longevity.

Bad Lieutenant said...


etbass said...
Can't we have a post here anymore, without a long treatise on the "word" itself?


No. Or rather, yes as soon as you can cure Althouse's ADHD.

What anymore? She was always like this. The reason she can't focus is because she's never done anything important enough to concentrate on.

Bad Lieutenant said...

Blogger Quaestor said...
funsize wrote: What happens when you own more than one cat, and more than one gun? Does it even out?

It either evens out or you lock yourself in a clock tower somewhere.


I was gonna say, the mushy middle on this is where someone shoots one cat with one gun.

Bilwick said...

RBG is salivating over the number homeowners she might be able to kick our of their Little Pink Houses over the next five years.

walter said...

"a Supreme Court Justice shouldn't speak plainly when speaking plainly makes political motivation plain. "
Uh...clearly, she disagrees.

mikeski said...

Henry said...
How hard is it to make something trend on twitter? Just the trend, sans any content. It's a meta hysteria.


"Trending on twitter" is trending on twitter. Indeed.

mikee said...

Forget RBG. She will be remembered as an ideologue who ignored plain letter law.

For an amusing thought, Trump might get to replace Clarence Thomas with a 40 year old version of Justice Thomas. The gnashing of teeth and rending of garments on the Left at that would be amusing.

Rance Fasoldt said...

My grandchildren call me Va, short for Vashe, the first part of the Russian for Your Excellency (Ваше Превосходительство). I’ll expect them to just say “Excellency” when they’re adults.

Bay Area Guy said...

@Rance,

Well, that's nice. But clearly you are a Russian troll sent by Putin to sow discord on this blog thread.