Ginsberg and After

The death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg was both timely and untimely.  Timely, because she was 87 and had been battling severe cancer for many years, and untimely because she died while Trump was in office.  Breaking with their own statements when Obama was president and Republicans prevented even a hearing of his candidate for a year, the party decided to push through a new candidate for the court in a few short weeks.

         Given this situation, what can Democrats and their supporters do?  The most important action, I believe, is to try and convince some Republican senators not to go ahead with their party’s maneuver to control the court.  Here are the phone numbers of five Republican senators who might support a delay.  All of them go to voice mail, so if you call, you do not need to talk to anyone.

• For Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, dial 202/224-2523, ext. 1

• For Sen. Corey Gardner of Colorado, dial 202/224-5941, ext. 1

• For Sen. Martha McSally of Arizona, dial 202/224-2235, which will go directly to voicemail

• For Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, dial 202/224-6665, ext. 3

• For Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, dial 202/224-5251, ext. 1        

         I think it is worth phoning these senators even if they have already announced that they will support Mitch McConnell’s attempt to rush through an appointment.  As McConnell himself declared, this issue is political, and if these senators receive enough calls asking them to desist, they might.

         Finally, even if this new appointment goes through, there is a powerful remedy.  In this nation the Supreme Court does not make laws, except in constitutional issues.  Congress does.  If, for instance, the new conservative court out laws abortion, congress can pass a law making it legal.  So I believe it is now even more important for Democrats to vote in large numbers, hopefully to give Biden a mandate as well as control of both the house and the senate.  It is the only force that can stop the degradation of this nation which Trump and his corrupt attorney general, Barr, have engineered in recent years.

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