Tribute To A Dead Celebrity Supreme Court Judge

Is this Ruth Bader Ginsberg, or is this RBG? (image via wikimedia)

A famous Supreme Court Judge died a few days ago, and I normally wouldn’t care, but I live with a political junkie who is trying very hard to reform.   Unfortunately, this celebrity Supreme Court Judge’s death has added a bunch of fuel to political fires, and this country’s political/cultural climate could get uglier because of it.

I’m calling this judge a celebrity because I’ve seen a bunch of media stuff celebrating her recently.  Before her death, she had been celebrated way more than any other Supreme Court Judge that I’ve ever seen.  Her fans don’t even use her real name.  They referred to this Supreme Court Judge by her three initials.

If I ever have to appear in court again, I hope my judge doesn’t refer to himself or herself by his/her initials.  It seems a bit informal for a judge.  I’d rather have a judge who stands proudly behind his/her several middle multisyllabic names.  It’s tough to take an abbreviated judge seriously, but I wouldn’t say that to the abbreviated judge’s face.

Usually, when a celebrity dies, people feel sad, but since this celebrity Supreme Court Judge is also viewed as a political figure, everybody went straight to anger.  People got mad at her for dying at this moment in future history.  People got mad at her for not retiring early.  People got mad at politicians for their plans now that she’s dead.  Some people are mad at others for getting mad.

And then you have some who are always mad so her death didn’t really matter.

The family of the dead celebrity Supreme Court Judge must feel weird.  They have to be aware of all the enraged political arguing over their family member’s death.  Nobody even pretended to grieve for this dead judge.  Everybody went straight to anger and political maneuvering.

There’s nothing new about instant political maneuvering, but that should be left to the politicians.  Everybody knows that politicians are despicable.  Now you have normal people acting political.  I don’t want to see normal people acting political.  It makes normal people just as unlikeable as the politicians, and I don’t want to be around them.

Even though I’ve been emotionally connected to politicians before (and that was a mistake), I’ve never gotten angry (or cried) when any of them passed.  I’ve never even watched a political funeral.  Now celebrity politicians get multi-day funerals.  I’m trying to get to the point where I don’t care what politicians do, either way.  I want to be aware but not care.

Even this tribute doesn’t seem right.  I’ve written the occasional vague celebrity tribute, but I’ve never written a tribute to any deceased relatives.  Several of my deceased relatives deserve a tribute.  Maybe all of them do.  Maybe instead of writing a tribute to a dead celebrity Supreme Court Judge whom I’ve never met, I should write a tribute to relatives who have had an impact on my life.

Maybe I’ll do that.   Maybe I’ll write a tribute to some dead relatives.  I have a small list to choose from, and I hope it stays that way.  I’m hoping that particular list remains static for a very long time.

I don’t think I’ve ever even met a famous politician.  My wife worked for a famous politician before that politician became famous.  My wife couldn’t stand that famous politician on a personal level but believed that the politician was effective.  When it comes to politics, I guess effectiveness justifies horrible interpersonal behavior.  That’s why I don’t like politics.

That politician for whom my wife worked is still alive and still in office.  When she dies (and I hope it’s not for a long time), I probably won’t write a tribute to her.

*****

What do you think?  Do you care that the celebrity Supreme Court Judge died?  If you care, is it because you value her life or because it might change the political landscape?