'Thanks You Old Dead White B****': Leftists Lash Out Over Texas Abortion Law, Blame Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Last September, when Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died, liberals waxed poetic about her career. Why, just look at the first line of The Washington Times’ obituary of RBG:
“Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the second woman to serve on the high court and a legal pioneer for gender equality whose fierce opinions as a justice made her a hero to the left, died Sept. 18 at her home in Washington. She was 87,” the capital’s newspaper of record noted.
This September, the Supreme Court refused to strike down a Texas law which would ban abortions after a fetal heartbeat was detected, leaving sides to battle it out in the lower courts.
The decision was by a 5-4 margin — with Ginsburg’s replacement, Justice Amy Coney Barrett, voting against striking the law down.
Liberal assessment of Ginsburg after Wednesday’s ruling: “thanks you old dead white b****.”
What a difference a year makes.
In the wake of the Supreme Court’s refusal to bar enforcement of the Texas law — which was quite a bit less apocalyptic for pro-abortion forces than they made it out to be — numerous Twitterers came out in force to criticize Ginsburg for not retiring when Barack Obama was in the White House and Democrats had control of the Senate.
There were some of the milder tweets, like this one from liberal pundit Michael Cohen (no, not that Michael Cohen) saying RBG ought to have left the court in 2014, before the GOP took the upper chamber:
In retrospect, maybe Ruth Bader Ginsburg should have stepped down from the Court in 2014
— Michael Cohen (@speechboy71) September 1, 2021
The other side of the spectrum came from those like writer Nandini Balial, who has since deleted this hot take on the heroine of the left:
Yes, apparently, the right to kill the unborn is so sacrosanct on the left they’ll even speak ill of the dead they so dearly loved last year.
The rest fell somewhere in between those two poles.
Here’s former Bernie Sanders surrogate, Chicago mayoral candidate and left-wing activist Ja’Mal Green calling her “Ruth Vader Ginsburg” and implying she was a member of the “establishment.”
Folks blaming Bernie for what happened in Texas are ridiculous. Did y’all not remember the time when we there was a democrat in office and had the chance the tell Ruth Vader Ginsburg to retire but didn’t? Stop it. The establishment needs to take responsibility for their mess.
— Ja’Mal Green (@JaymalGreen) September 2, 2021
Florida Democratic congressional candidate Pam Keith professed her love for RBG, but says her decision not to retire “was a COLOSSAL mistake.”
Damn straight.
I love RBG. But that was a COLOSSAL mistake.
I used to be FURIOUS that Obama let McConnell steal that SCOTUS seat from him, and didn’t just seat Garland.
I now think we dodged a bullet. Garland is a DISASTER. https://t.co/4XA1nptPZp
— Pam Keith, Esq. (@PamKeithFL) September 2, 2021
“A pivotal moment in history that led to the current Supreme Court,” NBC News’ Sahil Kapur called the decision for her not to retire.
Ginsburg turned 81 that year. Democrats held the presidency and 55 seats in the Senate.
A pivotal moment in history that led to the current Supreme Court. https://t.co/SR8KAHJzPN
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) September 2, 2021
Here’s the U.K. Independent’s Eric Michael Garcia noting that “Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s biggest legacy as a Justice (though not as an attorney) is Amy Coney Barrett.”
In fairness, I got this idea from my amigo @markyzaguirre. He’s harsher than her since I think some of her gains as an attorney won’t be erased. But Ginsburg not retiring in 2013 was one of the most consequential decisions by a justice.
— Eric Michael Garcia (@EricMGarcia) September 1, 2021
“Y’all have fun when President Tom Cotton replaces Stephen Breyer,” he added.
Y’all have fun when President Tom Cotton replaces Stephen Breyer.
— Eric Michael Garcia (@EricMGarcia) September 1, 2021
While the decision is likely different than what would have come down under last year’s court, this wasn’t the death knell of Roe v. Wade that liberals made it out to be — as much as any impediment to unfettered abortion is invariably painted in those terms.
As The Wall Street Journal pointed out, Texas’ fetal heartbeat law “was constructed with legal trap doors and the intention to make it as difficult as possible to challenge in court.”
“The law puts the enforcement powers in the hands of private citizens, rather than state or local enforcement agencies. And it gives Texans a large financial incentive to blow the whistle on previously legal abortions, allowing the collection of hefty damages and attorneys’ fees from any person who allegedly performs or aids in the abortion after detection of a heartbeat — with no caps on recovery.”
The majority didn’t rule that the law was constitutional, however. Justice Alito’s majority opinion noted those seeking an injunction “have raised serious questions regarding the constitutionality of the Texas law at issue.”
However, he noted the case “presents complex and novel … procedural questions” and that “it is unclear whether the named defendants in this lawsuit can or will seek to enforce the Texas law against the applicants in a manner that might permit our intervention.”
But then, part of the freakout is clearly directed at liberal Justice Stephen Breyer, who is 83 and has served on the court for 27 years now. In July, Breyer told CNN he hadn’t decided whether he would retire after this session, with two factors weighing on his mind.
“Primarily, of course, health,” Breyer said. “Second, the court.”
Last year, Ginsburg was the Notorious RBG, Wonder Woman, the vaunted saint of the left. This year: “thanks you old dead white b****.” Breyer isn’t adored — or even notorious, for that matter. My guess is that seven out of 10 people angrily tweeting about how he should step down now couldn’t pick him out of a lineup of four bald white octogenarians.
As a side note, I’m currently reading a biography of Oliver Cromwell, who deposed King Charles I of England and ruled as lord protector until his death in 1658. After the monarchy was restored in 1660, Cromwell’s body was dug up, tried for his crimes against the throne, then hanged and beheaded — which wasn’t an uncommon practice at the time, surprisingly.
I doubt anyone will go to these lengths with Stephen Breyer if he stays on and dies with a GOP-controlled Senate. However, judging by some of the whiplash on the left’s beloved RBG over this week’s Texas decision, I’d be shocked if some blue checkmark didn’t at least tweet about it.
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
