Who Deserves the Credit (and the Blame) for Conservative Supreme Court Victories?

(AP Photo/Stephan Savoia)

We’ve seen some amazing conservative victories from the U.S. Supreme Court in the past couple of years. The dismantling of Roe v. Wade, the end of affirmative action, and religious liberty wins are all reasons to celebrate. My PJ Media colleague Matt Margolis gave credit to Donald Trump for nominating three solid conservative justices to the court — and he does deserve some commendation. But I’d like to offer some gratitude to one other person for paving the way for the conservative majority we enjoy today: Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

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In her time on the court, Ginsburg gained a reputation as a heroine of the left, particularly when it came to women’s issues. Progressive women dubbed her “the Notorious R.B.G.” — a label she grew to embrace — and her lace collars became a fashion statement.

When you think about it, Ginsburg became an idol to the left, and I don’t mean that in a pop culture way. She instead became an object of worship to progressives. One Rolling Stone article I saw about Ginsburg contained a meme with the caption, “There’s no truth without Ruth.” That’s how much the left idolized her.

Leftists have their heroes much like we do on the right, but heroism becomes dangerous when the hero buys into the legend. That phenomenon became Stacey Abrams’ downfall, for example, and it’s why we can thank Ginsburg for sticking around long enough for Donald Trump to replace her on the court.

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Ginsburg had plenty of health issues over the last years of her life. She dealt with cancer five separate times, including pancreatic cancer, which would claim her life, and she had heart issues. The thing is, most of these issues took place while Barack Obama was president, so she could have retired to take care of her health.

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But because Ginsburg had become such a totem to the left, she saw herself as irreplaceable. She allowed her hubris to take control, and, to borrow a phrase the left loves to use so much, “nevertheless, she persisted.” She wanted to hold on until Hillary Clinton could replace her, but we all know that never came to fruition.

“The mainstream press and fawning progressive institutes told her she was an irreplaceable progressive icon and she believed them,” Erick Erickson wrote on Friday. “Thanks to her lack of humility, Ruth Bader Ginsburg was replaced with 46-year-old Amy Coney Barrett by Donald Trump, tilting the court to the right for decades to come.”

This Independence Day weekend, as you’re expressing gratitude for America’s greatness, think about Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the overweening arrogance that made these conservative court victories possible. It’s just too bad the left won’t blame her for undoing so much of the progressive agenda.

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