SO I'M A RACIST. WHY HIDE IT?

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the U.S. Supreme Court's napping justice, should be glad that there is a Democratic majority in Congress that is unwilling to take the steps to impeach her from her cozy lifetime appointment to the nation's highest court.

Justice Ginsburg stepped in it this time in an interview for this Sunday's New York Times Magazine, in which she is asked the following question after expressing her concerns about the availability of abortion for "poor women" (codespeak for "ethnic minorities"):

Are you talking about the distances women have to travel because in parts of the country, abortion is essentially unavailable, because there are so few doctors and clinics that do the procedure? And also, the lack of Medicaid for abortions for poor women?

Her answer:

Yes, the ruling about that surprised me. [Harris v. McRae – in 1980 the court upheld the Hyde Amendment, which forbids the use of Medicaid for abortions.] Frankly I had thought that at the time Roe was decided, there was concern about population growth and particularly growth in populations that we don't want to have too many of. So that Roe was going to be then set up for Medicaid funding for abortion. Which some people felt would risk coercing women into having abortions when they didn't really want them. But when the court decided McRae, the case came out the other way. And then I realized that my perception of it had been altogether wrong.

What's the point of listening to oral arguments when your mind is made up?

If a similar remark had been made by Justices Scalia or Thomas, there would be indignation ringing across media airwaves and the senate would begin impeachment hearings toute de suite. But not for Justice Ginsburg. You will likely only find this story on the pro-life blogs today and it will die quickly.

Ironically, the Democratic party once had a conscience before its "win at all costs" era. In 1968, President Johnson nominated Justice Abe Fortas to be elevated to Chief Justice when Earl Warren retired. Several Democrats in Congress joined Republicans in launching a filibuster against Fortas' elevation because of alleged ethics violations, including a compromising relationship with the president and accepting speaking honorariums. Apparently those days are over.

Meanwhile, Ginsburg can take her rightful place in the pantheon of baby-killers, next to another notorious racist who believed in eliminating "undesirable populations" through birth control and abortion: Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger.


Margaret Sanger: "Birth control must lead ultimately to a cleaner race."

Get more on this story here.

It should also be noted that Ginsburg's interview was conducted by Emily Bazelon. Bazelon is the granddaughter of the late appeals court judge David Bazelon, a liberal in the mold of William O. Douglas, and she is also the cousin of the late feminist uber-pro-abort Betty Friedan. A graduate of Yale Law School, (one of the few liberal, elite Ivy League schools that are de rigueur for success in the "working man's" Democratic party), Bazelon is also a faculty member at her alma mater as well as senior editor for Slate magazine.

So how likely do you think it is that Bazelon asked Ginsburg any tough questions?