February 5, 2019

"Some on the extreme political right had insisted that... it would be an ominous sign if [Ruth Bader Ginsburg] skipped President Trump’s State of the Union address Tuesday night."

Writes Robert Barnes in "Ruth Bader Ginsburg makes first public appearance since cancer surgery" (WaPo).

And I'm just wondering who "some" are. I mean, I'm glad to hear that Justice Ginsburg was able to go to the theater...
The 85-year-old justice attended a production of “Notorious RBG in Song” at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington.
But was anybody expecting her to show up at the State of the Union?
Ginsburg has attended past State of the Union addresses — television cameras have caught her napping at several. But Ginsburg, who created controversy when Trump was a candidate by calling him a “faker” and expressing distress about the possibility of his election, has not attended Trump’s events. She skipped his first speech to Congress in January 2017 and was out of town at a speaking appearance last year, an engagement she accepted before the date was announced....

Ginsburg, who was chosen for the court by Clinton, appears to have a more partisan attendance record than most justices. She did not show for any State of the Union address given by President George W. Bush.... On the other hand, Ginsburg made all of President Barack Obama’s speeches. She attended only some of those by Clinton....
That is, even if she had no medical problems at all, she wouldn't go. So who are the "some on the extreme political right" who were saying her nonappearance would be "ominous"? And why mention such dumb and ill-informed commenters in The Washington Post? My guess: To make right-wingers in general seem ghoulish.

And the theories that RBG is already dead are indeed ghoulish. I just don't believe that anyone newsworthy was looking to the State of the Union as a test of whether she's still alive. What got her out into the public was a celebration of herself...



... and that's fine.

149 comments:

tola'at sfarim said...

I don't think anyone suggested she was dead. The press wants to conflate questions Abt her health-care just like Hillary- with insane comspiracies. Although showing up at a show like this makes me question her metal health

Gahrie said...

And the theories that RBG is already dead are indeed ghoulish.

Much more ghoulish than creating and promoting laws that allow for the death by neglect of children who survived botched abortions.

wendybar said...

I haven't heard any of my right wing friends even talking about RBG. I, for one, do not wish her any bad will and am not wishing for her death. So sick of the left wing media trying to gin up more hatred and division.

Gahrie said...

Why would any sane person wonder about RBG's health? It's not like she's an 85 year old woman who just had parts of her lung removed due to cancer surgery.

Quaestor said...

The 85-year-old justice attended a production of “Notorious RBG in Song” at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington.

Time to rejuvenate those old smallest museum in the world jokes.

rcocean said...

I can never keep up with the Left-wing MSM and their fake principles. So, Thomas' wife is too partisan and that's bad. But Ginsburg skips Republican States of the Union and that's OK.

Okey-dokey.

BTW, what important opinion has Ginsberg authored in 25 years? From what I can tell she's just a 100% reliable vote for every Left-wing position. Otherwise, she doesn't have a constitutional philosophy.

Sebastian said...

"Ginsburg, who was chosen for the court by Clinton, appears to have a more partisan attendance record than most justices."

True, her absence wouldn't be an ominous sign, just a routine affirmation of partisanship.

tim maguire said...

"Extreme political right"?

Is extremity necessary to wonder if the Justice's failure to attend is a sign that her health is still an issue?

He didn't name them because they don't exist. There is no such thing as the "extreme political right" in US politics. It's a boogieman. A fever dream. A useful leftist lie.

rcocean said...

I wish she'd just die. She won't retire, and its the only way to get rid of her.

Ralph L said...

Whole Show on Youtube

Commenters demand proof of life.

Narayanan said...

Trump should bring her one of those neck cushions from Air Force One.

Unknown said...

There is a claim that she went. There is no proof. Conveniently, no pictures were allowed. In 2019, the age of camera phones, no one snapped a pic? And this comes after people asking after her on twitter. How coincidental...

rcocean said...

Is there another SCOTUS Judge who skips Democrat or Republican State of Unions?

I don't think there is. Certainly, the R Judges always show up. Breyer does too.

tcrosse said...

"Some on the extreme political right..."

Straw demographic.

Dave Begley said...

Where is the musical and movie about Justice Clarance Thomas? Now he's inspiring! (Also married to my Creighton classmate Ginni Lamp.)

Danno said...

WaPo won't let me read any more articles right now, but I saw this was supposedly a news article in their Courts and Law section of the paper. What a fucking joke when the news is slanted like this without any supporting facts.

Kevin said...

Do they ever use the phrase "extreme political left?" If so, in what context? I can't imagine it.

tcrosse said...

Maybe they could publish a photo of her holding up the front page of today's WaPo. That should be easy enough to PhotoShop.

Ann Althouse said...

"There is a claim that she went. There is no proof. Conveniently, no pictures were allowed. In 2019, the age of camera phones, no one snapped a pic? And this comes after people asking after her on twitter. How coincidental..."

It's a conspiracy theory, so there's room for an RBG double.

Notice that she's working from home and participating in the case-deciding.

By the way, how do we know any of the Justices are the same individuals who were originally appointed to the Court? They could all be doubles. Or robots. Or aliens.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

"Extreme political right"

Also known as - people who are not radical leftist fascists.

sdharms said...

she is an arrogant self absorbed liberal. She should have retired under Obama if she cared about anything but herself. But she wanted Hillary to appoint her replacement. Now the joke is on her.
It is ok for me to wish that her time on earth is over. I wish for her a passing surrounded by her loved ones... soon.
As for Pelosi, I would like to see her suffer a MASSIVE stroke in a live shot by CNN.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

So who are the "some on the extreme political right"?

Rhetorical trick. There are not some, not even one probably. Some say "some say" just as a device to get their straw man in place to knock down with the next sentence. Some say the WaPo style book doesn't even have a definition for "extreme right," just a hankering to sprinkle it among their turgid text.

sdharms said...

Oh yeah I guess I am the "extreme right" referred to.

rcocean said...

The workload of a SCOTUS judge is extremely light. All they have to do is show up and vote. And attend oral arguments. They don't have to write opinions if they don't want to. They don't even have to read the written arguments. In fact, I doubt Ginsbeg ever did. She just figured out what the Left-wing position was, and voted that way. Or just asked Breyer.

rcocean said...

Marshall near the end, just watched TV. He had his clerks do all the work.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

All they have to do is show up and vote.

She's only doing ONE of those now, so it's even easier for RGB.

Humperdink said...

If I look at the political scale (moderate lefty to extreme lefty), I see none on the left pushing back against killing babies who have been made "comfortable". And yet, I am an extreme righty? Good to know.

rcocean said...

I had a real problem understanding that headline. Why would the Right think it "Ominous" that ginsberg wouldn't show up?

Actually, we'd be Happy she didn't show up.

TrespassersW said...

sdharms said...
As for Pelosi, I would like to see her suffer a MASSIVE stroke in a live shot by CNN.
Are you sure she hasn't already?

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

AM I the only one who first thinks of TV pixels when the letters RGB appear? And then I realize it's her. Can you translate Ruth into CMYK?

Clyde said...

Here she is!

Still Alive!

TreeJoe said...

We have an elderly supreme court justice who just underwent both major life-threatening health issues and significant treatment accordingly, who is not showing herself in public, and who is supposedly performing duties remotely.

And it is ghoulish to wonder whether or not that SCJ is long for this earth?

To me there are perhaps 3 executive branch members, 2 members of the house, 2 members of the senate, and 9 court members who are the most visibly critical to the running of this nation - about 16 people in total that we need to have confidence in or be actively working to replace if we do not have confidence they can return to work.

traditionalguy said...

I suppose being intubated on life support is also being alive. The miracle would be to see her walking around and communicating among the Justices.

mccullough said...

“Appears” is the tell. Ginsburg has been on the Court since 1993.

She is the only member of the Court in that time who has not attended a SOTU of a GOP president.

She’s a Leftist. That’s why they celebrate her. O’Connor was the first woman on the Court by 12 years.

There are movies and musicals about Ginsburg because she is a Leftist.

There is no “appears.”

Democracy Dies in Obfuscation.

Leland said...

I think skipping the SOTU and reading the transcript would be the best use of RBG and anyone else's time. But I do think continuing to be absent from the court would be a bad sign of her health. She is, after all, an employee who is not showing up for work.

Narayanan said...

Who is on which side now?
Terry Schiavo and RBG

TrespassersW said...

Alito mouths "Not true" during Obama's SOTU address, and the Lickspittle Media pitches a conniption.

Ginsburg skips out on SOTU addresses and makes clearly political comments about the sitting president and she's hailed as "Notorious RBG" by the aforementioned media.

Compare and contrast.

Quaestor said...

They could all be doubles. Or robots. Or aliens.

I'm quite convinced the current Chief Justice hatched from a pod.

TrespassersW said...

Time for a remake of "Weekend at Bernies."

Chris N said...

‘Another far-right ghoul
Holds hospital, court and school
hostage from The People
I am become your Steeple!’

-A few tantalizing lines from the made for upcoming TV drama ‘Alexandria!’ appearing on the new Lauer daytime network this Spring. Hail Women Of Every Hue!

Jim said...

“Notice that she’s working from home,” blink once to grant cert; blink twice to deny.

Darrell said...

Some on the extreme political Left realize that they are like everyone else on the Left.

They are the wise ones.

Fernandinande said...

I'm on a diet, trying to maintain my ghoulish figure.

tcrosse said...

Look at all the May Day parades in Red Square that Lenin gets to attend.

Anne in Rockwall, TX said...

"Some say"

I cannot abide that little trick they use.

Leland said...

"Some say"

It is hilarious when Jeremy Clarkson does it mockingly.

hombre said...

What Justice Ginsburg does when she is not shredding the Constitution on behalf of the secprog agenda is of no consequence.

Curious George said...

I wonder how many in attendance with her wish they were dead ten minutes into the performance.

walter said...

rcocean said...All they have to do is show up and vote. And attend oral arguments. They don't have to write opinions if they don't want to. They don't even have to read the written arguments.

Ann Althouse said...Notice that she's working from home and participating in the case-deciding.
--
Meaning...in real-time? e have the tech so she could.
She could do her fans a favor with a video clip, speaking.
Seems like just after her surgery there was suggestion by her crew it wouldn't be long before she'd be back to normal routine.
Then..nothing.

Big Mike said...

So who are the "some on the extreme political right" who were saying her nonappearance would be "ominous"?

A good question. A better one is what their definition of “extreme political right” is. I believe that they include people who believe the (to them) silly notion that everyone should be equal before the law — not one law for the wealthy and politically well-connected and another for everyone else.

Fernandinande said...

Why would the Right think it "Ominous" that ginsberg wouldn't show up?

It's the WaPo, which has died in darkness, so the reason for the headline wasn't news reporting; far more likely it was just a way to associate these words with each other: extreme political right ominous

rehajm said...

CNN knows when an FBI raid is going to happen but not one media type can get paparazzi of RBG on her night at the theatre?

Curious George said...

Remember when Melania had surgery and the press was all "Where is she?!?!?" a couple of weeks later? But not one peep where that lefty bag of bones is three months later.

MayBee said...

I like it that her SOTU attendance is notably partisan, but Trump got in all kinds of trouble a few months ago for noting the partisanship of judges.

All the things we aren't supposed to notice! And the other things we wonder about-- those are conspiracy theories. Why won't people just think the right way?

walter said...

Maybe it's extreme pacing for theatrics. Maybe tonight's the night.
If she shows, media will riff/fawn on that instead of anything Trump says.

PackerBronco said...

I'm eagerly awaiting the Chief Justice Roberts Vaudeville Show - especially the act where he pulls the tax interpretation out of the Obamacare Hat, not to mention the act where dancers dressed like Roberts tap dance around all sorts of constitutional questions.

Chuck said...

...And why mention such dumb and ill-informed commenters in The Washington Post? My guess: To make right-wingers in general seem ghoulish...



Much like the blandly regular application of “Trump Derangement Syndrome.” To make even the most careful and thoughtful critics of Trump seem deranged.

Fernandinande said...

She's alive. Alive!

Yes, it's that clip, but it's a good one.

rehajm said...

Odd to show up at a theater performance celebrating you, innit?

AllenS said...

Tell me, Robert Barnes, who are these extreme political right people? I want names. If you can't provide their names, then your article is fake news.

walter said...

And to validate his eventual comment/snark:
This is for Howard

Static Ping said...

It's all about the narrative. If you decide that certain people are horrible people, then horrible people do horrible things. And if you cannot find anyone that is doing those horrible things, you invent them. This is an ancient thing, and it is certainly not something novel with the current journalism regime.

I think it would be fair to say that many conservatives would love to replace RBG with a Trump appointee. And many liberals would have loved to replace Scalia with a Clinton appointee. So what?

As to the SOTU, RBG inevitably falls asleep during the speeches, so this probably for the best.

M Jordan said...

Ginsburg is drawn to a public celebration of herself like a rat to the cheese. Pathetic. She’s a partisan hack and egomaniac and too damn egocentric to retire when her own side ran the roost. How can such a person have risen to SC justice status?

doctrev said...

Ghoulish figure! Hah, beautiful.

Anyways, this isn't some random prole, or even a major celebrity. Ruth Bader Ginsburg is a justice of the Supreme Court, yet the news around her is reminiscent of Brezhnev-level Kremlinology. -How dare you-, our betters scream, when people who have historical perspective that extends beyond a decade remember Andropov and Chernenko. The lies about incredible virility and health were pretty strong from their propaganda media too. I'd love to perform medical diagnoses or be a restaurant server from the comfort of my home, but I realize that your average busboy union evidently has higher employment standards than the Supreme Court.

Ginsburg may not attend SOTUs when given by the wrong party. Unfortunately for her, Trump loves puncturing pretensions and gives as good as he gets. "I'm sorry Justice Ginsburg couldn't be here, she's feeling a little under the weather." You get the idea.

rhhardin said...

Old lady expected to be dead shortly and Trump replacement choice story.

Can she outlast Trump or will the cookie crumble against the dems.

Wince said...

What could possibly worse than a leftist feminist hagiography put to opera music?

Someone who thrives in the study of law... Someone who lights the light of thinking...

And those are the wooden lyrics they chose to highlight.

Bay Area Guy said...

Most of us have dealt with an aging parent or grandparent, perhaps with cancer or Alzheimer's or something else. Generally, it's not fun and we wouldn't wish it on anyone. So, although I don't agree much with RBG's approach to law, I do wish her good health.

That stated, out of a sense of professional decorum, she really should make a public statement about her health condition. If her condition is fine, great. Continue on. If her condition is too poor for her to meaningfully participate in the Court, then she should resign. Clinging to power is disgraceful. Publically hiding her condition is not great either. The Court and its structure and institutions are much more important than her personal story and devoted followers.

Curious George said...

If I were Trump I'd have Amy Coney Barrett warming up in the bullpen

M Jordan said...

Lemme guess, the playlist of songs celebrating this partisan hack began with “She’s Leaving Home” and ended with “Take This Job and Shove It.”

Wince said...

Blogger rehajm said...
Odd to show up at a theater performance celebrating you, innit?

Patrice Michaels is RBG's daughter in law, so it like going to the kid's recitatal or something.

The 85-year-old Ginsburg is attending a concert at a museum a few blocks from the White House that is being given by her daughter-in-law and other musicians. Patrice Michaels is married to Ginsburg’s son, James. Michaels is a soprano and composer.

Sebastian said...

"All they have to do is show up and vote."

She doesn't even have to show up. Yea or nay, is all. Which can be easily programmed, since on the key issues her vote is entirely predictable.

rcocean said...

I don't wish her "Good health" - I wish she'd die. Since she's 85 and will NOT retire.

rhhardin said...

All of her opinions are preserved by Google+.

Narayanan said...

RBG handlers are consulting with USSR scholars for guidance on politburo techniques.

I mean
if she can no longer speak for herself does her oath still stands?

MadisonMan said...

Some on the extreme political right (who we won't name because we made it all up) had insisted that...

Note that no time frame is given either -- just that at some point in the past, a fictitious person insisted something.

This is News!!

Dave Begley said...

Bay:

Nice sentiments. But she will never resign. Who will tell her that she's no longer capable of doing the job?

Here in Omaha, Judge Lyle Strom was a senior status district court judge until last year. He is older than RBG, but he is in great shape. I still think he swims every day.

Chuck said...

This is so funny,

In her blog post, Althouse correctly calls out the Washington Post for the presumption that far-right media was ghoulishly anticipating the death of Justice Ginsburg. I did my own quick searching for any right-wing media ghoulishness. Honestly (and however anecdotally) I found nothing. So I searched particularly within Breitbart. And not only did I not see Breitbart engaging in ghoulishness, I saw a Breitbart story where they were calling out Politico for its own ghoulishness in reporting rumors of how the White House might be planning for a Court vacancy and a nomination.

So Althouse’s blog post had it just right. Regarding the media.

But then along comes her community of commenters, going Full Ghoul.

gilbar said...

Professor Althouse points out that...
how do we know any of the Justices are the same individuals who were originally appointed to the Court?

This explains a LOT! So many justices are thought to be conservative; but when they've been on the court for a little while, they become lick spittle liberal lapdogs. Professor Althouse has now explicitly stated that these justices have been replaced by BODY DOUBLES!!

AND! the conspiracy is SO VAST, that Now they will use the excuse of 'eye surgery' to replace Professor Althouse with a body double the will deny ever saying this!!!

Dave Begley said...

Bay:

True story about Judge Strom, who is now 94. It was the Fall of 2017 and Steve Grasz was formally sworn in as an 8th Circuit Judge at the Hruska Courthouse in Omaha. There was a big line for the elevators so I took the stairs down to the lobby. I ran into Judge Strom. Too impatient for the elevator and glad for the exercise on the stairs.

gg6 said...

"...a celebration of herself...... and that's fine."
Just what we need, more romantic drivel and nonsense about an aging justice of questionable fitness. If someone such as Clarence Thomas had habitually skipped appearances by a POTUS he dislikes/disapproves like she has done, he would be burned at the stake for such demonstration of bias. Rightfully so. And, sadly, more proof that Chief Justice Roberts was a fool, a moron, or both, when he disputed the possibility of political bias by judges.

madAsHell said...

I'm looking at the website for the National Museum of Women in the Arts. They certainly don't publish their org chart, and it's difficult to see who is leading the organization.

I can't believe that RBG can travel without an entourage, and navigate a theater crowd.

Pictures or it never happened.

Birkel said...

Can she make it to Jan 20, 2025?

madAsHell said...

As for Pelosi, I would like to see her suffer a MASSIVE stroke in a live shot by CNN.

Watch carefully!! She realizing death by a thousand strokes.

madAsHell said...

She's not She.

arrrrgggghhh

Nonapod said...

I haven't the faintest idea what would constitute someone of the "extreme political right" anymore. I can classify what I personally think are rightwing views as well as leftwing ones, but I can only infer what a leftwing hack's ideas of such things are. Somehow I suspect they would be different.

If I were to believe some poles, so many ideas that were once thought of as pretty leftwing have evidently become mainstream. Take the 70% tax on the "rich", I've been told by my betters that a clear majority of Americans are now, like, totes on board with such an idea. Of course as with most things like that, there's just a vague idea that's put forth in a pole absent any detail, and that's supposed to make me believe something is so without skeptisism.

Kevin said...

Anatomy of a Chuck post:

Althouse calls out the media for anti-trump bias, Chuck calls out Althouse for previously noting his Trump Derangement.

Searches media accounts to find evidence to contradict Althouse, finds none.

Not believing his misfortune, Chuck does a specific search on Breitbart's site, finds link to the only such behavior on a left-wing site.

Left with no evidence, makes a generalized comment about Althouse commenters.

Yet to go: defending himself against the blowback by decrying everyone else as the issue.

Howard said...

This a real issue Walter. Biggest fuckup the Dems maid since they opposed the Civil Rights Act. Total hubris. Obozo shouldda recess appointed Medrick Barfland, RBG shouldda retired during BHO's reign, greasing the skids for Hitlary over Bern, Hitlary mailing it in and calling you people deplorables.

The SCOTUS sitrep with vis a vis Trumpland is the #1 most distressing conundrum anticipated by lefties. They now focused on dragging the old bag of ghoulish bones to November 2020.

gahrie said...

But then along comes her community of commenters, going Full Ghoul.

I guess we should have been posting our hopes that someone would beat the shit out of a teenager and harass his friends and family instead.

Howard said...

calling out the media for bias is squirrel to get you people to focus a bit on a real story. You can lead a deplorable to news, but you can't make it think.

Howard said...

RBG looks like a ghoul and when she speaks, a gaba-ghoul

bada-bing. I'm here all week

walter said...

Howard went "Full Ghoul".
Smear Merchant Chuck does NOT approve.

But really, a simple clip of her speaking from the comfort of her home seems a pretty easy hurdle to reassure folks.

AlbertAnonymous said...

“Some on the extreme political right”

So like a couple of bloggers and a conspiracy thread on 4chan?

This is what passes for journalism...

gahrie said...

Thinking is so 20th century Howie...it's all about the feelz now.

walter said...

Sure Howie, but can you comment on the concern of her lack of visibility in the now? That's kinda what the topic is.

Althouse really should run her posts by you to get Howie's "Real" or "Squirrel" designation. As as artist fond of rodents, she could visually preface them, accordingly.

William said...

The reports of her death were exaggerated but not so hyperbolic as the reports of her health and exercise regimen,

doctrev said...

Gasp! I'm a ghoul?! Oh no, that's like having Necrophage Oil thrown directly into my eyes!
I mean, if you're an unwanted byproduct of a dead ideology that the owners of the house are constantly trying to exorcise, what does that make you? A poltergeist? A botchling? Pauly Shore? Help me out here.

Regardless, I can't see -any- pictures of RBG having a night on the town. Isn't that super weird? You'd think the number of psycho liberals who want to upload selfie videos, not to mention Buzzfeeders desperate to justify their continued employment, would drown us all like the McCain funeral. Yet funny thing: I can't even see pics in the WaPoo.

Don't get me wrong, I'm slowly starting to appreciate RBG. I can't blame her for keeping what is evidently the most low-effort job on Earth, and her delusional arrogance means that Trump will get yet another Supreme Court appointment. So it's not that I hate her. But I am laughing at the fake-ass Republicans who insist on their proud ignorance of obvious Soviet-level fakery. I smile when I think of how bad they're crying as they realize that between Northam and Ginsburg, their credibility is shot. Never gonna recover. You are les collaborateurs, and will actually be treated worse than the SJW scum that real conservatives will have to fight.

Clark said...

There is no obligation for a justice to attend the State of the Union. Were I a justice, I would consider not attending as a matter of principle—no matter who was president.

"Justices are less likely to attend the State of the Union as the House of Representatives, the setting for the address, becomes more polarized. This finding also follows the expectations of the theory of positivity bias because justices do not want to be associated with partisanship, so they avoid polarized environments. Justice Clarence Thomas, who has attended less than a third of his possible State of the Union addresses, has said that he stopped attending because the speeches have 'become so partisan and it’s very uncomfortable for a judge to sit there.'" (SCOTUS Blog: Why justices attend the State of the Union)

Danno said...

Chuck said...So Althouse’s blog post had it just right. Regarding the media. But then along comes her community of commenters, going Full Ghoul.

Neither Althouse or anyone else controls who participates in her comments section, with just a few exceptions. Also please remember not all of the commenters are of the same mind.

Looking at you Chuck, some of your posts start out lucid, but you almost always throw a turd into the punchbowl before you are finished. You seem to think you are better than everyone else, and it really shows. No wonder Drago has it in for you.

stevew said...

Using 'some' like this is the weasel way a speaker or writer tries to legitimize whatever crackpot idea they are spewing. I always request a list of names and groups that make up the 'some' to which they refer. The more specific the better. My request is always unanswered.

walter said...

Thomas makes a pretty good case for that, Clark.
Makes me want for some surreptitious/non-state moderated audio of what goes down there.

Yancey Ward said...

Without pictures, I am going to call the claims she went to the theater bullshit. In this day and age, pictures would appear regardless of the wishes of the family group- it is almost literally true everyone carries a camera with them.

Yancey Ward said...

The extreme political right is everyone to the right of the NYTimes editorial page.

Bruce Hayden said...

"It's a conspiracy theory, so there's room for an RBG double.

Notice that she's working from home and participating in the case-deciding. "

Many believe that her seat on the Supreme Court is so important to the Democrats that they would, indeed, pretend that she is alive through 2019 and 2020, so that the Senate in 2021 can confirm another liberal as her replacement. Imagine, for a moment, Amy Coney Barrett sitting in her seat, and the Supreme Court hearing a case on the Constitutionality of either the NY or VA bills that would essentially legalize post partum abortions. The Dems have become the party of extreme positions, and one of the biggest barriers to their success would be a heavily conservative Supreme Court. Are they willing to cheat to keep that seat from being flipped? You betcha. Just watch what they are doing to Neomi Rao for Kavenaugh's old seat on the DC Circuit. Not only is she Indian-American, but has been working as Trump's regulatory czar. They are pulling all the stops out to keep her off the court, and off the short list for a SCOTUS seat. Or, look at the entire FBI/DoJ/CIA/MSM/Mueller fraud two years in now and still hobbling Trump w/o any real evidence.

What I don't think we know is how she is participating, and whether her participation could be faked. She apparently isn't, or at least wasn't last I heard, engaging in oral arguments - which makes sense either way, since she isn't there to actually get into the fray, and Justice Thomas long ago showed that someone could be an effective Justice without that. Many believe that few of their minds are really changed during oral arguments, and, instead, are mostly just a method of them showing off and appearing relevant and important. Regardless of her actually status, it is likely that RBG is likely doing little of the actual work, and hasn't been for awhile. That is what her clerks are for. Could her being alive, after having died, be faked? We really don't know. We don't know if the other Justices have heard her voice on the phone, or just seen "her" emails and memos. And right now, neither they, nor their clerks, are talking. Which suggests to me that they believe her to be alive, and at least somewhat functional.

JPS said...

Anyone here ever live in New York State?

Albany is 150 miles north of New York City. Plattsburgh is 130 miles north of Albany. Buffalo is 250 miles west of Albany.

All three are Upstate New York. The classification "extreme political right" works somewhat like this.

Yancey Ward said...

"Notice that she's working from home and participating in the case-deciding."

There is no proof of this claim, either. It is entirely possible her staff is doing all the work. This, of course, is true of all the other judges, but I expect to see all them tonight, and in any case, they work from the bench, too where multiple witnesses can see and hear them. Seriously, can't they teleconference her into the public arguments sessions?

Greg P said...

"What got her out into the public was a celebration of herself"

And that's pathetic, but unsurprising.

Greg P said...

"WaPo won't let me read any more articles right now"

Delete all cookies from WashingtonPost.com, and you'll be able to read another set of articles

Yancey Ward said...

I don't think it implausible to think that, if Ginsberg died or ended up in a vegetative state, her family and staff would attempt to hide this fact. The political stakes are that high as we can demonstrate with the just passed Kavanaugh confirmation circus. In any case, there is precedent for such behavior in the case of Woodrow Wilson and William Douglas.

Unknown said...

"By the way, how do we know any of the Justices are the same individuals who were originally appointed to the Court? They could all be doubles. Or robots. Or aliens."

I know you're just being facetious, but nothing counteracts my original comment. There are claims she was there, but deliberately no proof. Calling it a conspiracy is silly, unless any questioning of the narrative is now conspiratorial.

After Kavanaugh, Buzzfeed, Covington, is it really still so difficult to accept that the left would lie?

Clark said...

@Yancey Ward: You should not expect to see all of the Justices tonight. More likely you will see 4 or 5. When was the last time all of the Justices attended a State of the Union? (I'd try to look it up, but I don't have time right now.)

Sam L. said...

"...extreme political right..." REALLY????? "Names, Les; I need names!" (h/t, Herb Tarlek) I presume this is the entire right, including the Never Trumpers...

Yancey Ward said...

Clark, I think the other 8 usually show up unless they are just ill or traveling. In any case, all the other 8 were seen in the last 2 weeks during oral arguments by people I can trust.

Quaestor said...

Howard wrote: bada-bing. I'm here all week

Running the floor buffer after closing.

bagoh20 said...

I doubt that anybody heard or read such a thing from the "extreme political right". Who is the "extreme political right"? I want some names. Extreme is what the media calls everyone on the right, but think about right, left, center, and the extremes. Someone like Bernie or Ocasio-Cortez are not called extreme left, but clearly they are. They want to change the entire economic system of the country, to commandeer wealth, and control the means of production, at least indirectly. Their "extreme right" is someone who wants to adhere to the Constitution. Radical or extreme conservative are oxymorons.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...
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Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

According to Krugman, who is as far left as you can get - centrists are now extreme.

This is how you use propaganda to move the overton window so that radical leftist fascism is the new norm.

JackWayne said...

It’s not fine that she is attending a celebration of her life. It reminds me of Rehnquist and his super-special Chief Justice robes. We don’t need self-absorbed, arrogant, out of touch justices on our highest court.

Unknown said...

Wouldn't Roberts, at least, know if Ginsburg died? Surely the left wouldn't think they could hide Ginsburg's death from the Chief Justice?

Whether he would go along with it (Ginsburg's death is a tax!) is an open question, though.

--Vance

Tom said...

I hope Trump starts with this (someone help Ann understand)

There’s so much drama with the RBG,
It makes it hard to be the president DJT,
But, I somehow, some way,
I keep coming up with funky MAGA shit nearly every single day

So, uh, a little shutdown for the G’s,
As I appoint a few justices as I breeze through,
You know it’s 2 in the morning and the party’s still rockin’,
Cause Obama ain’t home,

I got snitches in the White House who are getting it on,
Going on Good Morning America at 6 in the morning,
So, whatcha gonna do?
I got a pocket full of vetos,
And a record job rate too,

So, turn off the gubmint,
And lock the doors,
But, but what?!
We don’t love Dem whores

And we’re gonna build a wall today,
Walls up, crimes down,
As the illegals gonna have to have to wait,

Rollin’ down the street, tweetin’, and, uh
Loosely with the truth,
Laid back,
Got my mind on my whopper and my whopper on my mind...







Curious George said...

So not only no pictures, but no other attendees saw her.

Okey Dokey.

walter said...

Twerk it out, Tom!

Original Mike said...

Althouse said..."Notice that she's working from home and participating in the case-deciding."

Another case of what is seen and what is not seen.

YoungHegelian said...

The 85-year-old justice attended a production of “Notorious RBG in Song” at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington.

Featuring such hits as:


Back to back, belly to belly
I don't give a damn, I done dead already
Oho back to back, belly to belly
At the Zombie Jamboree

traditionalguy said...

Her attendance was 100% Democrat Speak. They mean her spirit attended after it floated up out of her body.That is the same way the spirits of so many Registered Dem voters, now out of their bodies, keep on voting for years. The Absentee ballot works like a charm, just like the ones RBG is using in the SCOTUS now.

Josephbleau said...

If she can go out and party, why can’t she go to work?

tim in vermont said...

So wait a minute, not only are guys in white hoods and swastika’d arm bands, the extreme right, sitting around talking about the health of RBG, but these guys are privy to the conversation? Or is “extreme right” anything to the right of Bill Clinton, who is just plain old right wing?

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

"Notorious RBG" is a play on "Notorious BIG," a rapper whose main claim to fame is that he is dead.

walter said...

What was she wearing?
https://www.historicalcutouts.com/RBG

Churchy LaFemme: said...

AM I the only one who first thinks of TV pixels when the letters RGB appear? And then I realize it's her. Can you translate Ruth into CMYK?

Oh man! I was actually doing a pixel manipulation program a month or so ago, and couldn't figure out why all my colors were wrong. I even counted them out: R-B-G, R-B-G. Took me hours to snap that mindset!

Churchy LaFemme: said...

By the way, how do we know any of the Justices are the same individuals who were originally appointed to the Court? They could all be doubles. Or robots. Or aliens.

Original Mike said...

Blogger Josephbleau said..."If she can go out and party, why can’t she go to work?"

Good question.

walter said...

It's like being caught out on a sick day

Jim at said...

Another day. Another leftist blaming people for things they haven't done.

What could possibly go wrong?

I Have Misplaced My Pants said...

re the performance or whatever of her:

wank wank wank wank slap slap slap slap

Get me a barf basin. I can't roll my eyes hard enough. Masturbation should be a private act. Seeing it in public is disgusting.

Jim at said...

To make even the most careful and thoughtful critics of Trump seem deranged. - Chuck

You do that all by yourself, Chuck. No tags or labels needed.

Susan Stabile said...


Someone asked, "Is there another SCOTUS Judge who skips Democrat or Republican State of Unions?"
Scalia routinely skipped them, once calling the State of the Union "a childish spectacle."

FullMoon said...

Chuck said...

...And why mention such dumb and ill-informed commenters in The Washington Post? My guess: To make right-wingers in general seem ghoulish...



Much like the blandly regular application of “Trump Derangement Syndrome.” To make even the most careful and thoughtful critics of Trump seem deranged.

Obligatory for casual or new readers.Apologies to frequent flyers:

Chuck said...

"I am afraid you are mistaking me for someone who has an interest in fair treatment of Donald Trump. I'm not your guy. I am interested in smearing him, hurting him and prejudicing people against him."

3/4/16, 4:46 PM


Bilwick said...

In my experience (and I probably have more than most commenters here), "some on the extreme right" usually means "a guy I met once" or even "I made this up."

Howard said...

Blogger walter said...

Sure Howie, but can you comment on the concern of her lack of visibility in the now? That's kinda what the topic is.

Althouse really should run her posts by you to get Howie's "Real" or "Squirrel" designation. As as artist fond of rodents, she could visually preface them, accordingly.


I don't read the posts, I skim them quickly, then move on to skim the comments to see what makes me chuckle. Hit and run, don't waste too much time wasting time

Drago said...
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Drago said...

Dick Durbin Cuckholster Chuck: "Much like the blandly regular application of “Trump Derangement Syndrome.” To make even the most careful and thoughtful critics of Trump seem deranged."

LOL

Note to self: LLR and #StrongDemDefender Chuck, who loudly and proudly proclaimed himself a smear merchant, after vile rumor-mongering attacks on a child and making racist comments towards African American members of the Administration, would very much like for others to think of him as a careful and thoughtful critic of Trump.

Feel free to clean your keyboards after the spit-take that assertion by Chuck no doubt caused.

Ambrose said...

Where is the "extreme political right" in relation to the "hard right"?

Drago said...

Btw, did anyone catch the news about LLR Chuck's favorite fake-conservative Total-Cuck Open-Lefty losing political consultant Steve Schmidt of LLR Chuck's favorite network (MSNBC)?

Oh yeah baby. The very embodiment of fake conservatism, Steve Schmidt, was fighting to get on board the Trump Train Staff before someone took a long look at him, started giggling, and said "sorry, but coffee is for Closers!"

Whereupon LLR Chuck's brother by a different mother skulked off to ply his smear merchanting ways on MSNBC.

walter said...

Not surprising, Howie.
Too bad "Gadfly" is taken.

narciso said...

funny thing, the firm that Schmidt, founded mercury partners is knee deep in Qatari mischief (including the hacking network that netted a American progress researcher into Russia, Russian interests represented by david Vitter and Turkish ones,

Howard said...

THOUGH logic choppers rule the town,
And every man and maid and boy
Has marked a distant object down,
An aimless joy is a pure joy,’
Or so did Tom O’Roughley say 5
That saw the surges running by,
‘And wisdom is a butterfly
And not a gloomy bird of prey.

Michael Fitzgerald said...

Raul Castro said he saw her at the ball game doing the wave with FARC.

henge2243 said...

It was not Justice Ginsberg that was spotted at the performance but a bag of old clothes, chicken bones and a 1/2 a jar of rotten gefilte fish.