Who boos at a memorial service?
President Trump and first lady Melania Trump faced jeers and sneers Thursday while visiting the casket of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who is lying in repose outside the Supreme Court.
“Vote him out!” shouted members of the crowd gathered at the steps of the Supreme Court. Others simply booed the president and the first lady.
For all the recent talk about honoring the late Supreme Court justice’s dying wishes, it seems as if her most adoring fans don’t understand the things she claimed to value. It seems as if they don’t understand her life and legacy at all.
Indeed, the spectacle of the late judge’s fans screaming at the president and the first lady seems like the exact opposite of what one would expect from admirers of the woman who rather famously forged a strong, personal friendship with the late, notably conservative Supreme Court justice, Antonin Scalia. Their ability to enjoy their shared humanity despite their political and personal differences was supposed to be an inspiration to us all. Yet, here are Ginsburg’s acolytes screaming at the foot of her coffin, shrieking at their most hated enemy during a public memorial service. Honoring her memory, indeed.
The Supreme Court meltdown Thursday morning seems as counterproductive to the goal of honoring Ginsburg’s memory as the calls for court-packing.
Last Friday, just moments after the news broke that Ginsburg had died, Democratic Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts said, “Mitch McConnell set the precedent. No Supreme Court vacancies filled in an election year. If he violates it, when Democrats control the Senate in the next Congress, we must abolish the filibuster and expand the Supreme Court.”
Other Democrats followed suit.
Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York declared that “the incoming Senate should immediately move to expand the Supreme Court.” Rep. Joe Kennedy of Massachusetts said, “If (the Senate) holds a vote in 2020, we pack the court in 2021. It’s that simple.”
“We should leave all options on the table, including the number of justices that are on the Supreme Court,” said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer likewise signaled a willingness to pack the courts, saying, “Everything is on the table.”
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden himself has also changed his tune on the issue. He said during the 2020 Democratic primary that court-packing is a non-starter. This week, he said that he is “not going to answer that question.”
Left-wing pundits and activists meanwhile are threatening violence should the president and the U.S. Senate exercise their legal, constitutional authority to fill the Supreme Court vacancy before the election. Ginsburg, by the way, was not a fan of court-packing. She also very clearly defended the president and the Senate’s legal authority to fill Supreme Court vacancies, even before elections.
Screaming in public at one’s political opponents while also calling for the demolition or total remaking of the institutions Ginsburg served — just like Ginsburg would have wanted. Or not.
