Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search
61 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
AP NewsAlert: Supreme Court: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 85, Hospitalized After Fracturing 3 Ribs (Original Post) bronxiteforever Nov 2018 OP
CNN says not life threatening. JudyM Nov 2018 #1
Thanks! I will delete my post when full story posted. bronxiteforever Nov 2018 #4
The ribs themselves wouldn't be... but it still reignites me worry. FBaggins Nov 2018 #47
The pain or painkillers will take some of her energy away but she's still standing up for justice. JudyM Nov 2018 #48
Didja see her doing push ups? She's pretty amazing mucifer Nov 2018 #2
Oh fuck BeneathTheMire Nov 2018 #3
Cracked or bruised ribs are rarely fatal on average. cstanleytech Nov 2018 #24
Not for her age group and gender RegexReader Nov 2018 #33
Granted her ages does place her in a higher risk category but she seems cstanleytech Nov 2018 #37
The problem isnt the ribs themselves DetroitLegalBeagle Nov 2018 #35
It's not the ribs that are the concern MosheFeingold Nov 2018 #43
I doubt her life is in danger... regnaD kciN Nov 2018 #52
It'll be much worse Polybius Nov 2018 #58
She will not be on the bench today with the other Justices. Honeycombe8 Nov 2018 #5
We need to cast a protective spell around her Proud Liberal Dem Nov 2018 #15
and bubble wrap! Native Nov 2018 #26
LOLOL pangaia Nov 2018 #27
Where's Hermione Grainger? Liberal Veteran Nov 2018 #46
I was thinking about this scenario yesterday morning GatoGordo Nov 2018 #20
History shows that they don't give it up except under extraordinary circumstances. Honeycombe8 Nov 2018 #31
Trump or Brett probably tripped her... SCRUBDASHRUB Nov 2018 #6
That was my first thought. GentryDixon Nov 2018 #9
Mine too. watoos Nov 2018 #17
Well, i doubt it since she survived without serious injury. Calista241 Nov 2018 #25
Hang in there, pleeeeze! The Liberal Lion Nov 2018 #7
Dear God please let her hold on till this crazed man & his destructive party is rid of onetexan Nov 2018 #8
Sending all sorts of healing vibes to her!!!!! BumRushDaShow Nov 2018 #10
Oh God please let this woman heal quickly and feel better soon IronLionZion Nov 2018 #11
Fuck nt lillypaddle Nov 2018 #12
OH, NO!!! debsy Nov 2018 #13
Hoping for a FAST recovery. Trump probably has a woody at this news....... Bengus81 Nov 2018 #14
We really need to form a human shield around her. Gidney N Cloyd Nov 2018 #16
Like the bubble wrap commercial. watoos Nov 2018 #18
This is my biggest fear that we lose another Supreme. honest.abe Nov 2018 #19
We can't afford to lose her inwiththenew Nov 2018 #21
If Trump gets to appoint a replacement for any of the four progressive justices, we're screwed. LastLiberal in PalmSprings Nov 2018 #34
Yes, that is so depressingly true. honest.abe Nov 2018 #36
Or we expand the size of the SCOTUS. All of this is why winning in 2020 is imperative. NYC Liberal Nov 2018 #39
Can that be done? I thought FDR tried to do it, but to no avail. LastLiberal in PalmSprings Nov 2018 #55
Legally? Yes. SCOTUS has changed in size multiple times. NYC Liberal Nov 2018 #57
We got lazy. A lesson learned the hard way GatoGordo Nov 2018 #41
It doesn't seem too serious thankfully Polybius Nov 2018 #22
Oh, fuck. malthaussen Nov 2018 #23
Stay healthy angrychair Nov 2018 #28
A Note To Lurking Greens And Bernie-Or-Bust Tupes Vogon_Glory Nov 2018 #29
If you listen to them Hillary would appoint Robert Bork RhodeIslandOne Nov 2018 #30
There is plenty of blame to go around. (some DEM criticism) GatoGordo Nov 2018 #45
Of course Bernie Bros and Greens deserve some blame BUT Jake Stern Nov 2018 #61
IMO, Roberts will be the next to resign and then Thomas. CK_John Nov 2018 #32
They already make the big money harun Nov 2018 #40
If I was a praying person, that's what I'd be doing for the Notorious RGB righ now. Nitram Nov 2018 #38
Was kavenaugh close to her when this happened? duforsure Nov 2018 #42
Prayers to her recovery manicdem Nov 2018 #44
Hmmmm...was she pushed? Mighty fortuitous situation. n/t libdem4life Nov 2018 #49
Extremely unlikely Polybius Nov 2018 #53
She leads a very active a lifestyle... EarthFirst Nov 2018 #54
Heal quickly and completely, dear RBG. Totally Tunsie Nov 2018 #50
A Speedy Recovery Justice4JFK Nov 2018 #51
I will donate all of my bones AND my guts! Greybnk48 Nov 2018 #56
I really wish I didnt sense something terrible coming. Socal31 Nov 2018 #59
Cracked ribs hurt so bad.. I know! Cha Nov 2018 #60

FBaggins

(26,697 posts)
47. The ribs themselves wouldn't be... but it still reignites me worry.
Thu Nov 8, 2018, 01:50 PM
Nov 2018

As I understand it, she fell down in her office.

That's not uncommon for a normal 85-year old I suppose. But it's less like the "spars with Chuck Norris each afternoon" that I've been imagining every time I worry about the next two years.

JudyM

(29,122 posts)
48. The pain or painkillers will take some of her energy away but she's still standing up for justice.
Thu Nov 8, 2018, 01:56 PM
Nov 2018

Agreed, we really really need her to hang in there.
I worry about whether she has a guard stationed to protect her at the hospital...

cstanleytech

(26,080 posts)
24. Cracked or bruised ribs are rarely fatal on average.
Thu Nov 8, 2018, 11:14 AM
Nov 2018

Bruised ones hurt like hell though which is what I did about 4 months ago so I hate to imagine how much worse cracked ones would hurt.

RegexReader

(416 posts)
33. Not for her age group and gender
Thu Nov 8, 2018, 12:04 PM
Nov 2018

what you're looking at is impaired breathing due to the pain which leads to pneumonia. Seen it too often in patients over the past 20 something years of being an RN. Also, she delayed treatment which is a big 'OH ****!' moment for me. Pulmonary embolism is also a real possibility.

Hope you're right in this case.

cstanleytech

(26,080 posts)
37. Granted her ages does place her in a higher risk category but she seems
Thu Nov 8, 2018, 12:19 PM
Nov 2018

pretty feisty so hopefully she will not have any major complications.

DetroitLegalBeagle

(1,904 posts)
35. The problem isnt the ribs themselves
Thu Nov 8, 2018, 12:06 PM
Nov 2018

Its the shallow breathing that typically results from broken ribs which makes pneumonia a very real concern, particularly at 85 years old.

MosheFeingold

(3,051 posts)
43. It's not the ribs that are the concern
Thu Nov 8, 2018, 12:58 PM
Nov 2018

It's why she is falling like that.

I've got almost 10 years on her, and have done heavy squats and dead lifts basically since discharge from the military.

I credit the mobility gained (and muscle kept) by doing that for my long life.

regnaD kciN

(26,035 posts)
52. I doubt her life is in danger...
Thu Nov 8, 2018, 04:42 PM
Nov 2018

...but any serious injury at that age may well lead to a state where she's unable to continue to serve on SCOTUS, and 45 gets to replace one of the remaining four left-of-center justices with Kavanaugh 2.0.


Polybius

(15,238 posts)
58. It'll be much worse
Thu Nov 8, 2018, 11:26 PM
Nov 2018

He would nominate Amy Coney Barrett, and say "look, I replaced a woman with a woman". Barrett is insanely anti-abortion.

Honeycombe8

(37,648 posts)
5. She will not be on the bench today with the other Justices.
Thu Nov 8, 2018, 10:15 AM
Nov 2018

I hope she can hang in there for two more years, until we take back the Presidency.

 

GatoGordo

(2,412 posts)
20. I was thinking about this scenario yesterday morning
Thu Nov 8, 2018, 10:59 AM
Nov 2018

There are some aging justices on the court (Ginsburg, 85, Breyer, 80). 85 is pretty old, and despite the desire of many of our "oldsters" to keep on rolling, (as to not gather moss) time and gravity wear them down. The aged take a lot longer to rebound, and are more susceptible to acquired illness and medications cloud the mind more easily.

I wouldn't doubt that some older Republican appointees (Thomas, 70) might consider stepping down during this presidency, as it is safe for them to do so. Unfortunately, we can't expect older Democrat appointees to keep plugging along as they start to fail, just because we want/need them to. (I am considering my own aging mother as I type this). We need Ginsburg on the court, but if she wants to call it quits sooner rather than later, we need to support her.

That being said, the power associated with being a justice must be pretty intoxicating. I am in awe any time a justice steps down.

Honeycombe8

(37,648 posts)
31. History shows that they don't give it up except under extraordinary circumstances.
Thu Nov 8, 2018, 11:47 AM
Nov 2018

The power must be intoxicating, as you say. Plus it's a cushy gig...a part time job that pays well, comes with beaucoup benefits, and gives you one of the highest status positions in the country. And you get to affect the country's direction.

Ginsburg said in 2016 or 2017 that she will not step down for at least four years. She was aware that Democrats wanted her to resign during Obama's administration, for fear she might be forced to during a Republican administration.

Her husband is deceased. Going by how a couple of my elderly co-workers felt in the past, they felt that if they retired, they would die. They had nothing else to do, no other interests, no reason for being. So they hung on, falling asleep at their desks, having to have younger co-workers help with their work.

I suspect Ginsburg feels similarly. She has had some serious health problems, incl two bouts of cancer I think, and has come through.

I think there should be a mandatory retirement age for the Justices. When the "life" appointment thing was created, people didn't live that long. I doubt it was foreseen that 90 year olds would still be sitting on the bench, having been there for 50 years.

I just hope she is correct in her confidence she can go the distance.


Calista241

(5,584 posts)
25. Well, i doubt it since she survived without serious injury.
Thu Nov 8, 2018, 11:16 AM
Nov 2018

and she'd be able to lock the fuckers up with her testimony.

inwiththenew

(972 posts)
21. We can't afford to lose her
Thu Nov 8, 2018, 11:00 AM
Nov 2018

I bet Thomas retires next year but that's garbage in garbage out. Of course it stings that we'll get 20-30 years of another Thomas but if Trump gets to replace RBG, in addition to the other appointments, it will take a generation or more to recover if we ever do.

34. If Trump gets to appoint a replacement for any of the four progressive justices, we're screwed.
Thu Nov 8, 2018, 12:04 PM
Nov 2018

Our children are screwed. Their children are screwed. Their children's children are screwed. Their children's children's children are screwed.

Absent a mass die-off of the five conservative justices during a time when there's a Democratic president and Senate, it will take 100 years to undo the damage this sociopath will have done to the SCOTUS, and by extension, the entire judicial system, if it is ever undone.

How did we end up at a point where a racist narcissistic sociopath is remaking the United States in his own image?

That's a rhetorical question.

55. Can that be done? I thought FDR tried to do it, but to no avail.
Thu Nov 8, 2018, 07:55 PM
Nov 2018

He wanted to increase the size of the court to 15 justices. In the end, however, two conservative justices become more progressive and allowed a number of FDR's initiatives--such as the Social Security Act--to withstand challenges.

 

GatoGordo

(2,412 posts)
41. We got lazy. A lesson learned the hard way
Thu Nov 8, 2018, 12:54 PM
Nov 2018

"How did we end up at a point where a racist narcissistic sociopath is remaking the United States in his own image?"

Vogon_Glory

(9,085 posts)
29. A Note To Lurking Greens And Bernie-Or-Bust Tupes
Thu Nov 8, 2018, 11:38 AM
Nov 2018

Justice Ginsberg’s fall is yet another example of the consequences of your exceedingly poor decision to either vote Green or not at all. Most of the remaining liberal-leaning or swing-vote justices are aged and far more frail than their right-wing peers. That was more than apparent while you were making your decision to act out your pique. Your bad judgement in the 2016 election put Gorsuch on the court. Your poor judgement put Kavenaugh on the bench. Pray to whatever that Justice Ginsberg recovers or isn’t forced to retire.

 

GatoGordo

(2,412 posts)
45. There is plenty of blame to go around. (some DEM criticism)
Thu Nov 8, 2018, 01:06 PM
Nov 2018

I live in a very middle-of-the-road area of fly-over country. The first district in Minnesota. The Democratic Party here is called the DFL (Democratic-Farmer-Labor). This district should be fully dark blue. Yet it went Republican on Tuesday.

The Democratic Party has abandoned the farmers and rural folk, who are no longer living bucolic life on 160 acres and a driving a 1947 Farmall Super M. They are HUGE operations that require many generations to keep it going and profitable. But the Democratic Party insists that our support should be without question? Because of the name?

Want to blame someone for this Supreme Court shit-storm? Look in the mirror, DNC and "I'm with her" types...

Jake Stern

(3,145 posts)
61. Of course Bernie Bros and Greens deserve some blame BUT
Sat Nov 10, 2018, 01:47 AM
Nov 2018

what Sandra Day O'Connor did for Shrub and Anthony Kennedy did for Trump, RBG should have done for Obama: retired while we still had the White House and Senate giving him a chance to appoint a younger justice to the court.

That would have kept the seat occupied by a liberal for another generation.

If that had happened we wouldn't be biting our nails right now, worried that we're just an illness away from a third Trump SCOTUS appointment which will make the court solidly fascist for decades to come.


Call it ageist if you wish but that's just how I feel

manicdem

(386 posts)
44. Prayers to her recovery
Thu Nov 8, 2018, 12:59 PM
Nov 2018

I hope she recovers and continues for a couple more years. But realistically can a 85 year old recover from something like this and how long?

If she's not able to sit on the bench for a while, can the president appoint a replacement?

EarthFirst

(2,877 posts)
54. She leads a very active a lifestyle...
Thu Nov 8, 2018, 05:44 PM
Nov 2018

It’s possible she injured herself during a workout; or a simple mishap.

At any rate; here’s to a speedy recovery!

Totally Tunsie

(10,885 posts)
50. Heal quickly and completely, dear RBG.
Thu Nov 8, 2018, 02:06 PM
Nov 2018

We need you on the Court, now more than ever.

Our local Noon news stated that RBG was admitted to the hospital "for observation", which means she'll fall into that insurance loophole where she'll be paying out of pocket for some of her stay. Those two little words - "for observation" - make a whole lot of difference. If admitted for treatment, most insurances will cover you completely. Once observation rather than treatment comes in to play, that's the insurance company's out card. Medications given won't be covered along with some services also. I learned that lesson the hard way.

I'm not saying RBG can't afford it, but I hope it's a reminder to keep these insurance companies in-check for how they rip off the insured. IMO, insurance is a nasty business.

Justice4JFK

(21 posts)
51. A Speedy Recovery
Thu Nov 8, 2018, 02:11 PM
Nov 2018

Ouch! hope she is well on her way to a speedy recovery following a potentially disastrous fall.

Latest Discussions»Latest Breaking News»AP NewsAlert: Supreme Cou...