A Justice who Was "Dogged and Decorous"

My writing time was short yesterday, and I had just found out about the death of Ruth Bader Ginsberg moments before I started writing.  Let me this morning capture a few more ideas.

Many of my friends are scared about what this death means for recently won human rights.  In this matter, I am grateful for the chief justice's approach to the Court.  This court under John Roberts is not likely to overturn past rulings, not without a very good reason.  Roberts has talked about how dangerous it is, and undermining of the court's authority, to revisit past decisions for no good reason outside of the yearning to have had a different outcome.

I enjoyed this podcast created just hours after the news of Ginsberg's death.  It's wonderful to hear legal expert Nina Totenberg talk about the legacy of Ruth Bader Ginsberg.  Here's a sample:  "You know, she's always been a sort of a contradiction. She was always a demure firebrand, a justice who was dogged but decorous. She always believed don't get mad, just move on to the next thing. That anger doesn't serve you well. You just keep going, and you do your job and you do it to the highest standards you possibly can."

I've been seeing various posts about Ginsberg and judaism.  Ginsberg was Jewish, and she died on Rosh Hashana.  On yesterday's episode of Weekend Edition Saturday, Scott Simon had a great piece on these threads.  And Nina Totenberg expanded on her praise of the Supreme Court justice.

I love the pictures and reports of those who went to the steps of the Supreme Court building in downtown Washington D.C. to keep vigil.  I am moved by our human ability to still be moved, to light candles, to renew our resolve to resist in the way she would have wanted us to keep resisting.

As I've thought about this election year and how various twists and turns can affect an election.  I confess that I didn't really think about the death of a Supreme Court justice this close to the election.  I can't imagine this will be good for the larger ideas of the country, the future, all of those larger ideas that ultimately matter more than who wins the 2020 election.

But again, let me return to those pictures of humans and candles and the praise for a woman who changed so many aspects of modern life.  Let me remember the message that comes from so many traditions, religious and otherwise, that out of the ashes, new life and better life can rise.