Quote of the Day

"Today, my ACLU connection would probably disqualify me."—Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, on how her background as a civil rights attorney and a champion of women's equality would, in today's political climate, likely prevent her confirmation to the Supreme Court.

Over at Think Progress, Ian notes: "As director of the ACLU's Women's Rights Project, Ginsburg was literally the single most important women's rights attorney in American history. She authored the brief in Reed v. Reed that convinced a unanimous Supreme Court to hold for the very first time that the Constitution's guarantee of Equal Protection applies to women. And her brief in Craig v. Boren convinced the Court to hand down its very first decision holding that gender discrimination laws are subject to heightened constitutional scrutiny. It is possible that modern doctrines preventing gender discrimination would simply not exist if Ruth Bader Ginsburg hadn't done the work she did for the ACLU. And yet, in today's era of rampant right-wing filibusters, that alone would disqualify her for a seat on the federal bench."

That is what a feminist backlash looks like.