{via @politico}
If you thought things can’t get any worse, you can count on 2020 to throw another wrench into the works. Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the second woman in history to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, died in Washington, from complications from cancer, at the age 87.
When I heard the news on Friday, a “F*CK” slipped out of my mouth and prompted Jon to look up and over from the couch, alarmed because I don’t usually throw the F-bomb around casually. But this seemed like the only appropriate response.
Losing Ruth Bader Ginsburg just 46 days away from the presidential election is bad news bears and it hit me in the gut.
I don’t get too emotional when public figures die, after all, I don’t know them personally, but damn, we needed RBG for just another few months. I know she was hoping and holding on to be around at least until election day. And damn, did she fight for us all, literally up until her very last day.
The fact that days before her death, she dictated to her granddaughter that her “most fervent wish is that [she] will not be replaced until a new president is installed” tells you all you need to know about her. She knew how precarious the situation at the Supreme Court would become if she didn’t make it, that her death would have profound consequences for the court and the country.
And count on Mitch McConnell to have full hypocrisy on display a mere few hours after learning of RBG’s passing, vowing that he’d fill her empty seat on the Supreme Court ASAP. As you might recall, he was the one who didn’t allow for Antonin Scalia‘s seat to be filled during the remaining 11 months of the Obama administration. God, everything just seems so broken right now.
But to be honest, we were pinning a lot of hope on a single woman, when it’s really been up to us all along.
Please vote in November! Tomorrow, Tuesday, September 22nd, 2020 is National Voter Registration Day! Make sure you double-check that you’re registered. If not, register! Make a voting plan. Vote early by requesting an absentee ballot. Encourage others to vote early.
Support Senate candidates in swing states by donating to the Get Mitch or Die Trying Fund (which will support the Democrats in the top Senate races in 10+ states) so we can flip the Senate. Vote Save America has raised more than 20 Million in the last 48 hours alone. It’s more important than ever that the Democrats take control back.
Rest in power, RBG, and thanks for everything.
Also: what else you got, 2020?
Kim
September 21, 2020 at 12:02 pmIt really has been a year. And it seems like those gut punches just keep coming. But they are pushing people out of their comfort and has them raising their voices. We will be heard! I have check that I am still registered a dozen times. Just incase.
Lisa of Lisa's Yarns
September 22, 2020 at 8:25 amI’m afraid to even ask what else 2020 has in store for us… it just keeps getting worse and worse. I was also so sad to hear about RBG’s passing. I had girlfriends over to help w/ hanging frames that night so Phil waited until they were gone to break the news. Gah. It’s such a loss. But yes – it’s on us to do something. She held on for as long as she possibly could. I am disappointed in McConnell’s about-face but not at all surprised. Some people have no integrity.
I’m just waiting for my mail-in ballot to arrive! I could also do early voting but have opted to go the mail-in route. I pulled up a sample ballot so am doing some research now, especially on the judges. I used to not vote for judges because I didn’t know who to vote for but after listening to shows like “In the Dark” you realize how important judges are!
Kim
September 23, 2020 at 10:02 amI hate that my first thought when she died was not the sadness of a legacy leaving us (that came second) but the extreme worry of what republicans would try to do to fill her seat before Trump’s term ends. Gah. What a sh*t year indeed. :(
Tobia | craftaliciousme
September 27, 2020 at 8:25 amHere in German we are not to familiar with RBG but everyone with a moral compass seems to be essential these days in the U.S. heck in this world in general. Lets hope all her work isn’t lost in the future…
San
September 28, 2020 at 10:52 amFingers crossed.
Anne
September 28, 2020 at 2:09 pmThis. All of this. I had – literally – the same reaction to a text letting me know. And then I was up half the night fretting about it, only to be reeling again the next day when He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named broke his own “rule” and pledged to fast track a nominee whose every action directly contradicts the life and legacy of RBG.
It’s sickening.
My absentee ballot is here, just waiting for me to have time to fill it out when my witness is available (tomorrow). It will then be taken to a dropbox at my district’s office, where, so help me, it will be counted. Dammit.