May her memory be our revolution
Like most liberal Americans in this era of unprecedented upheaval and ongoing tragedy, the passing of the Honorable Ruth Bader Ginsberg came as a shattering hammer-blow to our already precarious state of mind.
It’s not that it was unexpected, given her health issues and advanced age. Yet it was. Because despite her personal challenges, Ruth had become someone we saw as indomitable, invincible; our warrior, our rock of jurisprudence in a seething morass of power-mongering and craven enablement of arguably the most amoral, law-breaking president in our history.
Ruth stood for what we believe in. A republic built on the foundations of Constitutional principle. A country where equal rights extend to every single American. Where immigrants are welcome. Where we embrace our differences as well as our similarities and rejoice in open debate, in the liberty to love whom we choose, in the inalienable right to wield control over our own bodies, and respect for the judicial process: in all the elements that are vital to a healthy democracy. A feminist icon who blazed an unprecedented trail in the battle for civil rights and women’s rights during her career of sixty- one years, Ruth was a hummingbird with the heart of a lion, who refused to give into the forces arrayed against her. She refused to believe that America couldn’t be changed for the better and she employed the law to create that change. She represented the best we have within us, the highest ideals we should all strive for: a world where everyone, regardless of gender, faith, race, and sexuality, is free to be who they are without fear.
With all of the above under increasing assault and systemic dismantling by the president and his Party, to learn of our Honorable’s passing sundered us. I personally burst into tears and selfishly, the first thing I thought was, “Oh, goddess. Not now. Please, not her. Not now.” But death is an implacable rite of passage that delays for nothing and no one. Her time had come, even as she herself penned a heart-rending message in her final days that she hoped she would not be replaced until the next president had been elected. Because even as she faced the vast unknown beyond this life, even as her tiny body gave way to its ferocious immortal spirit, she held out hope that America could be what she’d always envisioned: a country where true justice prevails.
Her body barely lay cold when Senator Mitch McConnell issued the blood-curdling statement that a Trump nominee to replace her would be voted upon in the Senate — this from the same man who held a Supreme Court vacancy hostage for over 200 days to thwart President Obama’s chosen nominee. It, too, wasn’t unexpected. By now, we’ve all seen that the GOP, once a bastion under which Abraham Lincoln achieved glory, has descended to perhaps its lowest moment, playing footstool toady to a president who in his four years of office has demonstrated his utter incapability and lack of interest in doing the job to which he was elected. But again, while unexpected, it wasn’t. Even though we’ve seen how the GOP bares its teeth, it’s still inconceivably callous to forgo the respect of waiting at least 24 hours before issuing such a statement. If nothing else before confirmed the GOP’s overriding disregard for our founding principles, this moment did it. We’re now fully apprised that in their zeal to consolidate iron-fisted control, the GOP is capable of anything, never mind the crowds of grieving Americans gathered before the Supreme Court building to honor the legacy of a woman who, in truth, is irreplaceable.
So, what do we do? As social media erupted in lamentations and moans of despair, I recalled Ruth’s own words: “Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time.” She personified this. She created change by unraveling the complex issues she confronted one step at a time. In the wake of her passing, we cannot forget her example. Until there’s nothing to be done, there’s always something to be done. In 45 days we will elect a new president. We can change the course of our nation one vote at a time. This is no longer about Party alliances. It’s about our survival as a nation and a people — indeed, as a species. The issues facing us are monumental; our most urgent, the looming catastrophe of climate change, will impact our entire planet for generations to come. Our vote today will dictate the future of every child alive, the quality of the very air they breathe. Ruth knew this. She knew her votes and dissents on the Supreme Court held the fate of countless Americans, as well as of people beyond our borders. Whenever she made a decision, she did so with the future foremost in her mind. She understood what happens today carries its echo into tomorrow.
Now, we must carry on in a world that feels much darker without her. But Ruth Bader Ginsberg never took the easy way out. Neither must we. May her struggles be our pathway. May her triumphs be our blueprint.
May her memory be our revolution. יהי זכרה מהפכה
