I have good news and I have bad news. The bad news is that Ruth Bader Ginsburg just underwent surgery at Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. The good news is that the surgery went well.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had two cancerous nodules removed from her left lung Friday at a New York hospital, the Supreme Court announced.
There is no evidence of any remaining disease, says a court spokesperson, nor is there evidence of disease elsewhere in the body.
The 85-year-old justice was hospitalized last month after a fall in her office, in which she fractured three ribs.
In 1999, Ginsburg underwent surgery for colorectal cancer, and 10 years later she was treated for early stages of pancreatic cancer.
Apparently, the disease was detected early and fortuitously as a result of scans taken after she fractured her ribs. Since there is no current evidence of metastasis, it’s possible that she will make a full recovery.
At times like this, it’s always somewhat crass to talk politically, but everyone hearing this news is thinking the same thing, which is that it could have a very lasting impact on the makeup of the Supreme Court if Donald Trump (or Mike Pence) gets to pick Ginsburg’s replacement.
There will be time to discuss that nightmare scenario some other time. For now, we should just be grateful that the cancer was detected at an early stage and that the surgery went well.
If you have cancer in your lungs and you don’t have lung cancer you have a metastasis. It’s good that there are no other detectable nodules, but there is a likelihood that there are cancerous cells somewhere in her body. This is not good news.
She needs to see Jimmy Carter’s doctor… Prayer up..
Her doctor issued a letter stating that the surgery was successful and they are confident. I don’t know long term what it means, but it doesn’t look like she’s terminal.
It isn’t popular but I wish she had retired in 2012/13 while Ds still held the Senate and after President Obama won re-election decisively.
People in Washington need to have a better understanding of when it is time leave official public service. Senator Kennedy had this same issue. Had he retired when he started getting really sick Ds wouldn’t have had 1 year of Scott Walker.
Given Justice Ginsberg’s age and past health issues I have been fully prepared that Trump will get to appoint another Supreme Court Justice and you can bet it will be a very young conservative justice. Most likely a woman and that leaves Amy Conan Barrett who is only 46. If the Justice Ginsberg has to step down that will leave only 3 justices appointed by Ds.
The other aspect of this is that should Trump get to appoint another justice that will shore up any wavering support from Senate Rs.
[Very small correction: you seem (understandably) to be confusing the beyond contemptible Walker and the beyond contemptible Brown.]
I am confusing my jackhole Scott’s.
RBG’s doctor indicated they were ‘cancerous nodules’ without saying this was lung cancer or mets from a previous bout of cancer. Sloan Kettering are no slouches when it comes to cancer care, they’re ranked close to the top. The good news here is that the surgery was deemed a success and that she will now be monitored very closely. I’m thinking that when she had her fall a bit ago that the rib xrays could have been what helped doctors discover the cancerous nodules. So, without that fall she may have gone undiagnosed until she was in real trouble.
I’m going with this is a good day for RBG.
(from Booman’s top-post)
Not unexpected, as her health seems fragile.
It’s an interesting question whether she would really need to continue to show up at the rigged circus that is Roberts’ Repubs on a daily basis to waste vital energy and effort in arguing against the block-headed ideologues of Roberts’ extremist “conservative” majority. It’s likely she could perform many of the job functions at home and simply show up at the case conferences to cast her (likely-to-be-meaningless) votes—if CJ Roberts joins the moderates on more than one 5-4 case in the next two years it would be remarkable. The “conservatives” run the Court.
Certainly the oral arguments can be skipped in their entirety–as beloved “conservative” Clarence has long opined and demonstrated. And Justice Boofer has made plain that he plans to hide behind Roberts’ robes for a couple years, laying low until things cool off from his appalling confirmation performance. So Roberts effectively casts two votes for the time being.
I’m sure Ginsburg knows that her staying alive is Job One for the country. But while the Trumpite/”conservative” ruination of the Court can always get worse, the “lasting impact” is already done.
. . . exception wrt The Notorious RBG’s health and full recovery.
Not that I really believe it might help.
But no way it could hurt, right?
If she wasn’t such a self-centered egotist she would have retired when Obama was able to replace her. She made an incomprehensible and indefensible choice that will utterly destroy what little legacy she has if she is replaced by another frat boy rapist. For her, though, it’s all about her.
Merrick Garland.
You do recall that the Dems had the Senate until 2014, right? There was a push to get her to retire then, but she was oh-so confident the Dems would continue to control the gov, and SHE just needed to remain on the Court.
I expect she thought retirement at that point would reduce the 1/3 female membership on the court to just 2 and that would be a distinct disadvantage for women’s positions of power in the nation.
She was convinced that Obama would not be able to appoint anyone she would want to see on the court. Others can determine if her judgement on that score was right.
As I said, egotist. The headline is that RBG didn’t think Obama could appoint an acceptable replacement for HER. All about her and what she believes is her legacy on the Court. She was primarily in the minority for the defining cases of our time. Frankly, she doesn’t have much of a legacy to speak of…. except what looks increasingly likely to be the awarding of a 6 seat majority to the Federalist society due to how highly she thinks of herself and her irreplaceability. Obama certainly could have appointed nearly anyone he wanted to. Reid just would’ve had to end the filibuster on USSC appointments, which McConnell did without hesitation.
Maybe even 20/20!