On September 19, 2020, shortly after I learned of her passing, I posted an in memoriam to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, someone who I have thought very highly of for a very long time.
I want to step aside from the usual fare of this blog to examine some of the responses that I received to my post, both here and on Tumblr. First, let's look at a thread posted here on Blogger:
A few quick points...
First, if Trump gets more picks for SCOTUS, don't be surprised if posts of the sort that I make and you read become a thing of the past. If SCOTUS moves further to the right, I fear we'll see government censorship, pressure on platforms to censor, or outright reversals on protections for LBGTQ Americans. Remember that Republicans fought tooth and nail to keep laws banning homosexuality. If they feel emboldened and think they can get away with it, I wouldn't be surprised to see new laws targeting gays and, especially, transgender Americans.
Second, if you don't think RBG and her lifetime of working to expand equality to all citizens, especially women, makes her a hero ... then fuck off.Cops are heroes, military personnel are heroes, the person who dives in to traffic to save a person is a hero, doctors are heroes. Lawyers are garbage scum.
I agree that copes are heroes. So are those or volunteer to put their lives at risk in the military. And so are those ordinary people who take great risk to help others. On that we can agree. But "Lawyers are garbage scum"? Really? First, how do you know that I'm not a lawyer? Second, just think about some of the things that RBG did as a lawyer. She litigated cases to the Supreme Court to ensure that women had rights equal to those of men. She litigated cases to prevent forced sterilization of women. Had she not done those things, women would still be even more second-class citizens than they are and forced sterilizations (just to cite one example) might still be going on. Sure, some lawyers are scum. So are some cops, soldiers, and everyday people. But lawyers like RBG who spent a career trying to make the world a better place are absolutely hereos.
I think a lot of people should be forcibly sterilized regardless of gender. Legislating from the bench should be unconstitutional, anyone who supports that is just as bad as the vile judges who do it. If you are a lawyer, hope you enjoy the heat and pitchforks.
I started to write a response discussing "legislating from the bench". And I thought about a response to hoping that if I'm a lawyer I "enjoy the heat and pitchforks". The hate that you feel is palpable. In any event, I kept coming back to your first sentence. People should be forcibly sterilized? OK. I guess that makes you a Nazi. Please go away and don't come back.
If you want me to go away and not come back you are going to have to force that to happen.
Then, on Tumblr, I received the following:
So here is my question: What compels someone to post comments like these? I accept and understand that not everybody shares my political views. That's fine. Further, I understand that the point of this blog is not politics and that I'm "stepping out of character" to post something even remotely political. I get that. But when one person posts a heartfelt thought, in this case nothing more than a photo, the years of her life, and the Jewish memorial thought of "may her memory be a blessing," what compels others to express the sort of thoughts shown above from Unknown and icasualcollectionkryptonite?
Look, I could go on a lot longer. I could talk about why RBG meant a lot to me. I could talk about how communities like ours benefit from voices like hers. But I suspect that I'm mostly preaching to the proverbial choir. But these negative comments that I've received... Yes, they bothered me. They bothered me on a personal level. And so I felt the need to vent and share. OK. I'll wrap this up. But let me know what you think, whether about RBG, about my feelings, or about the comments that I've posted above.
Time for Trump to appoint his 3rd SCOTUS Justice.