Amy. Coney. Barrett.

Because of Rosh Hashanah, the President is respectfully deferring to Ruth Bader Ginsburg's family decision to wait to formally inter her, in Arlington, next to her prominent husband Martin whose role in her life (can we be honest?) was so crucial in financially and socially advantaging RBG to achieve both motherhood and career, and prominent judicial appointments in a time when so many other women with dreams had to defer (Martin Ginsburg was a close friend, and tax lawyer for Ross Perot, who -- in his own way -- helped to elect Bill Clinton, if you recall...). Typically in the Jewish tradition, the period of mourning is not extended out -- like those Catholics who die during the period between Good Friday and Easter, but shiva is effectively "cancelled" by the fall of the High Holidays in the calendar. The body is buried immediately in Jewish tradition, so as not to defile the dead. ------------------------------------------------- Part of President Trump's winning ways are in his common-sense diplomacy, and understanding of the skills necessary to advance causes and purposes to achieve an end goal in a diverse business world made up of many types. (Witness his decision -- in other countries still "evolving" -- not to antagonize and push for gay rights symbolism that would further inflame cultural wars, much as America was not ready, until Joe Biden blurted, to formally and legally advance the marital equality cause here at home. Neither the Clintons, nor the Obamas were ready to press the fight on that hot topic before the time was right -- the path more fully blazed, remember...) ------------------------------------ For this good-spirited reason, he is being respectful of the Ginsburg family by waiting until her end-of-week interment to announce who he has selected to advance for Senate approval as the next American Supreme Court Justice: Amy Coney Barrett. ---------------------------------- It's not really fair to pretend other candidates are ... "in the running", as some pundits and social-media analysts are inclined to do, primarily because -- when those alleged "also rans" are not chosen, it might appear that they were not up to the job. Not true. Their ticket might still be punched one day, but for now, Judge Coney Barrett has the experience, the education, the family background (eldest of seven; mother of seven), and the respective youth shared by recent male Supreme Court picks that will make her essentially untouchable in Senate confirmation hearings. ---------------------------------- Pundits are suggesting there might be a fight to ... "run out the clock" but the clear difference between President Obama's pick of Merrick Garland to the Court, and President Trump's still-to-be-formally-announced choice of Amy Coney Barrett is that one was a lame-duck president, for sure, and the other is not. -------------------------------------- President Obama could not run for a third term. President Trump can, and is. A 4-4 Court decision, in an election-case possibility like Bush v. Gore (God forbid it again come to that), must be avoided, with the highest of non-partisan judicial reasoning guiding the nation and binding up our wounds. The nation has never been more divided, in most living voters' memories. Families, workplaces, houses of worship, neighboring states. It seems President Obama's beautiful words about red people in blue states, and blue people in red states and how we should all peacefully co-exist in our un-shared culture and economy, just humming Kumbayas until the nation was healed, simply never came to fruition. ------------------------------------------ Thare was a time, if you were tuned in, in President Obama's later years before the election, when many understood that a torch had not been passed to the first black president, but that his actions -- or lack thereof -- were essentially beginning the Great Party Divide of the 21st Century fully on display between the Middle American states, and the Coastal states and those with dominant urban centers, that we are finally forced to acknowledge today. (Oddly, even after President Trump's election in 2016, many politicos and pundits refused to acknowledge it -- preferring to blame foreign interference, cheating or something else for why so many Americans whose voices are more equally represented in the Electoral College system voted the way we did.) ------------------------------- I am glad President Trump is the type of man with the couth not to nominate Judge Amy Coney Barrett as Supreme Court justice while the family and country waits to formally eulogize former Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, whose title and service to the country ended in her death. ------------------------------------------ But make no mistake, nor spend any time "analyzing" the qualifications of others: Amy Coney Barrett will be the choice to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and I am sure she too will have the class to thank her predecessor for helping to open doors -- as Martin's wealth and connections did for Ruth -- for high-achieving women like themselves to display what they could and can do when provided the opportunity to advance. -------------------------------- Nobody is owed anything in America, that's the beauty part. -------------------------------- But as MaryAnn Trump and most women, and men, if they are honest, understand: lucky breaks, connections... networking are often necessary for one party to forge ahead, while others just as capable and qualified, do not similarly advance. ------------------------------------ In the coming days, as we transition from summer to autumn with the accompanying natural signs in much of the country, let us keep in mind that ours is a moveable feast: that in our land of plenty, we have an obligation to understand that sharing, sacrifice, and thanksgiving are part of our cultural traditions too, and that though the faces at our annual national gatherings may change over time, the core center holds... ------------------------------------ That's important to value and cherish too, no matter who the players temporarily are. And make no mistake: we are all but temporary players here. ----------------------------------- #AmyConeyBarrett, for the win. ************************************************************ *Apologizies for the crude formatting, but Blogger seems to have temporarily taken away my ability to make the hard paragraph breaks that would make the copy read easier, and thinking through writing, not typesetting, is my forte. For now, this will suffice. Please read the words, and ignore the rough breaks... Think on these things? Thanks! MEG