Notoriously for rights

There's a new book out, Notorious RBG, the Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg by Irin Carmon and Shana Knizhnik. I haven't read it, but have read the discussion on Think Progress by Ian Millhiser. The book shows us how central Ginsberg has been for women's rights through her presentations before the Supremes while she was a lawyer, her time as a federal judge, and her tenure as a Justice. She saw her mother as highly intelligent, but had wasted it because she was stuck in a society in which women took care of the family. Ginsberg vowed to change that, and has.

A few days ago I wrote that the next president will have the opportunity to bend the Supremes to the left or right. And if the next president isn't a Democrat, that might render Democrats powerless for a long time. Ginsberg was asked the logical question. Why not retire and allow Obama to appoint a successor, guaranteeing her progressive voice? She pointed to the dysfunctional Senate and said:

Who do you think President Obama could appoint at this very day, given the boundaries that we have? If I resign any time this year, he could not successfully appoint anyone I would like to see in the court.

Alas, the next election is not likely to change that, no matter who wins the presidency.