Letter to the editor: Loss of Ginsburg is tragic

Ruth Bader Ginsburg was one of three Jewish justices on the Supreme Court who modeled her life after the key tenet of her faith as found in the book of Deuteronomy: “Justice, justice, thou shalt pursue.”

It was a most difficult path for her from the start of her career to her passing. First, she encountered discrimination as a female lawyer in what has always been, in most respects, a man’s world. Toward the end of her life, she dealt with and triumphed over one grave health challenge after another. Her maladies slowed her down, but did not defeat her. She quickly returned to the court after every challenge and hospitalization, and continued to work until almost her last breath.

The loss of Ginsburg is tragic for the country which admired, revered and loved her. It will be disastrous if she is rapidly replaced by an arch-conservative President Trump/Mitch McConnell selection who will be predictably pro-gun, anti-labor, anti-environment and anti-women’s rights, including reproductive rights, and someone who is hostile to civil and voting rights.

If the Republican Senate acts to hypocritically approve a nominee just before or after a presidential election — something we were told it would not do in the final year of a Democratic administration with a Republican Senate majority — let us hope that those who engage in such an act of treachery would pay a heavy political price in a backlash that they would deserve.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a woman of the people. Her memory will endure as an eternal blessing.

Oren Spiegler

Peters