Ruth Bader Ginsburg: We’re Not In ‘The Best Of Times, But There’s Hope’

Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

In an interview that aired Thursday, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said that the United States is not going through the “best of times” but added that she still has “hope” for the country’s future.

“I am optimistic in the long run. There was a great man who once said that the true symbol of the United States is not the bald eagle. It is the pendulum. And when the pendulum swings too far in one direction it will go back,” she told BBC’s “Newsnight.”

“I would say we are not experiencing the best of times, but there’s hope in seeing how the public is reacting to it,” Ginsburg said when asked about the state of the U.S. today. “The Women’s March ― I’ve never seen such a demonstration, both the numbers and the rapport of the people in that crowd. There was no violence; it was orderly. So yes, we are not experiencing the best of times, but there is reason to hope that that we will see a better day.”

Ginsburg also signaled in the interview that she has no plans to retire any time soon.

“At my age you have to take it year by year. I know I’m OK this year. What will be next year?” she replied when asked how much longer she will sit on the Supreme Court. “I’m hopeful however, because my most senior colleague ― the one who most recently retired, Justice John Paul Stevens ― stepped down at age 90. So I have a way to go.”

Watch the interview via the BBC:

Latest Livewire

Notable Replies

  1. Avatar for jep07 jep07 says:

    “but there’s hope in seeing how the public is reacting to it,”

    It is working. People need to double-down on the Resistance.

    The Indivisible Resistance is a non-partisan political fellowship.

  2. Love this woman! She is clearly biting the insides of her cheeks as she comments on the “Legislature’s” dysfunction. Keep hitting the gym, Your Honor! You may have an important decision or two to make in the near future. (All fingers crossed.)

  3. I do love her, but I also wish very, very much she’d retired 2-3 years ago.

    We do not know if she’ll last 4-8 years. And if she doesn’t, the SCOTUS will become overwhelmingly, deeply Conservative.

  4. Live long and prosper.

    I want to see her at Thomas’s funeral.

  5. And how do you know republicans wouldn’t have pulled the same stunt they did with Garland? We’d be in a worse mess now.

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

8 more replies

Participants

Avatar for system1 Avatar for mahniah Avatar for ghost Avatar for blue_bear Avatar for austinite Avatar for jep07 Avatar for navamske Avatar for chelsea530 Avatar for ptr Avatar for ottnott Avatar for fiftygigs Avatar for demyankee Avatar for corncaucus2008 Avatar for clare

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: