Digging Morbid Holes

In 2009, after she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, Senator Jim Bunning said, “Even though she was operated on, usually nine months is the longest that anybody would live.” Bunning was openly licking his chops at the opportunity to get rid of a Supreme Court justice as liberal as Ginsburg. Today, Bunning is dead and Ginsburg is still very much alive. Most Republicans salivating at the opportunity of her seat being filled by Donald Trump aren’t open about it. Others, not so much.

Last January, during a segment on Fox & Friends, a graphic aired showing Ginsburg’s photo along with “1933 – 2019.” They’re not very subtle over there at Fox & Friends.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has openly stated that if an opening occurs on the court in 2020, that he’d fill it, despite blocking President Obama’s nominee in 2016 with the argument it would be a cardinal sin to fill a seat during an election year. McConnell wasn’t just asked at a forum about an opening, the question was if a justice “dies.”

Last January, on the racist, alt-right podcast that you didn’t even know existed, Fash the Nation, hosts Jazzhands McFeels and Marcus Halberstram (is his name really “Jazzhands”?), were giddy over another Ginsburg cancer scare and said they “have the champagne on ice and the crab dance [meme] ready to go” when she dies. The crab dance is a reference to the 2018 celebratory “Crab Rave” song and they posted memes on Twitter of a crab lurking behind the Justice. Other racists joined in sharing memes of Ginsburg and crabs and once again, making liberals wonder what the hell they’re talking about. Republicans suck at humor and metaphors.

I think conservatives should take a lesson from Jim Bunning and think twice before speculating on the health of Ginsburg, or they may be the ones looking over their shoulders in fear of getting the pinch (see what I did there, conservatives? That’s how you do it).

There’s little doubt Republicans were feeling giddy upon hearing news this weekend that Ginsburg underwent another procedure to remove cancer. I’m also certain every liberal in the nation had heart fluctuations.

It’s not just morbid to speculate on and hope for ill health for Ginsburg. It’s cruel and disgusting. It’s also disgusting to hope the economy goes south to help your chances of winning an election. But, it’s not morbid to speculate on the economy. We’re always speculating on the economy.

Donald Trump faces a tough re-election in 2020 for reasons outside the economy. Mostly because he’s a vile, disgusting, racist, stupid human being who’s doing a lousy job as president and is an international embarrassment to the United States. But, if the economy goes down, so does Trump. I feel safe in saying there’s no way Donald Trump’s presidency can survive an economic downturn. If a recession hits before the election (and it will eventually hit), other Republicans will wish they had jumped into the presidential race.

The real questions about a recession are: When will it hit and how hard? I don’t want a recession and I think Trump can be defeated without one. Trust me on this; we don’t need an even bigger mess left by Trump for a Democrat to clean up.

I also hope Ginsburg stays in her seat as long as she wants, even after a Democrat enters the Oval Office. It’s not just her seat that’s so important, it’s her.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg is an American hero and whoever is nominated, whether by a Republican or Democrat, has huge shoes to fill.

It’s tough to make predictions on the economy or vacancies on the Supreme Court, but one call easy to make with bullseye accuracy is that Republicans will continue to be heartless troglodytes.

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