WILL RUTH BADER GINSBURG BE REPLACED ON THE SUPREME COURT THIS YEAR?

           DAY USA   WORLD   Brazil      India   South Africa

June      9    1093    4732        1185       246          82

July     19      412    4606          715       675          85

           22     1205    7128       1293     1120        572

Aug      1    1462     6429       1191       765        193

          10       534     4813         593     1013        198
          12     1504     6556       1242       835        130

          30       369     4182         398       960          47
Sept     3     1094     5886          830    1083        174
            6       432     4129          456    1008        110
            9     1208     6222        1136    1168          82
           13      392     3905          389    1140          20
           14      480     4374          454    1054          52
           15    1197     6001        1090    1283        142

           16    1012     6085          967    1139          64

           17      879     5568          857    1174          67

           18      958     5464          826    1221          85

Summary:  somewhat high for a Saturday report.

This is one of those days when I have no idea what I want to say.  I actually gave some thought to just giving up and going away, spurred by the fact that Google blogspot gave ample warning, told us that the system for using their system would be changed, and, well, they did just that earlier this week.  Already one problem, for I have suddenly exceeded the number of labels and can't add any more.  Great if I knew how to discard old labels.  But I can't seem to figure that out.   Yet.

One thing I noticed, though, is that this new way counts the number of pings to this site differently.  Previously, the highest one-day record for number of  people visiting this blog was around 27,000, twice:  one occurred on 20 April 2019 when I was in South Korea and reported on BTS, a singing group, and the other had to do with a Star Wars film.   I just took a new look at the record of this blog since the beginning, and the highest occurred on a different day, 31 March 19, with 95,511:

Nearly a hundred thousand reading this effort is absolutely mind-boggling.  That other peak occurred on 31 July 17 with 83,598.  The posting on 31 Mar 19 was my tenth day on a trip to the Orient, specifically Nagasaki.  I most remember a fabulous tonkatsu lunch.  Interestingly enough.  This is what 15 Craigside will be delivering to me for my next meal.  I'm going to have to come up with a better way to enhance this tonkatsu.

It's possible that those totals could well be for the whole week, but even then, there was nothing particularly monumental.  That 7-day period was just on Japan Rail Pass from Tokyo, with stops in Osaka Hiroshima, Miyazaki and Fukuoka.

In any case, the big news of the day is the passing away of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.  You will watch on TV and read your daily paper all about her, so let me just say, watch that 2018 movie, RGB, given a 94% rating by Rotten Tomatoes.  I'll add that she is all of 5'1" tall and a quote:  

The traditional law firms were just beginning to turn around on hiring Jews.  But to be a woman, a Jew and a mother to boot--that combination was a bit too much.

Yet, she had helped her husband Marty get through Harvard Law School when he was ill, while she too, was in that same school.  He got his juris doctorate and a job in New York City.  Thus, she had to transfer and later got her law degree from Columbia University.  President Bill Clinton appointed her to the Supreme Court in 1993.  She golfed and loved opera, twice appearing as an extra with Washington Opera productions.  Her dying wish was not to be replaced until there is a new president.

So what will happen?

• The Supreme Court is now 5 conservatives and 3 liberals.  A 6th conservative will mean control for some time, almost surely leading to the end of Obama care, plus.

• 
  In a few days President Donald Trump will nominate someone, almost surely a conservative female who is loyal to him.  He hopes he will prevail on November 3.  About Ginsburg's wish?  He will have difficulty shielding his disdain for a liberal female.
• Amy Coney Barrett seems the most likely, for she would insure for the end of Roe v. Wade, a thorn for conservatives.
• A scary thought is Republican Tom Cotton, but he is so outlandish that the Republicans can't afford any serious controversy.

• 
  Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says he will follow-through on Trump's request.  However, McConnell's senate candidacy is surprisingly being challenged by an unknown Democratic opponent, but should win no matter what he does here.

• 
  If four Republican senators defect, then the nomination can be prevented.  This is possible, especially as several Republicans are also being challenged for re-election.  Already, these four have hinted that they might block swift passage:  Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Lindsey Graham and Chuck Grassley.  And Mitt Romney?

• 
  One strategic decision might be to wait until the lame duck session after November 3, which would take the Senate out of jeopardy.  Trump remains president until 20 January 2021.
• Forget what Republicans said in the past, the odds are high that there will a Trump nominee in our highest court by the end of the year.  This will almost surely occur after November 3, when Republican senators who might have said something else, renege.

A few October surprises that could sway the presidential election:

• This was a September surprise, but the Supreme Court has become a key issue.

• 
  Any possibility that Donald Trump has Kim Jong-un prepared to announce peace, giving up all nuclear weapons, declaring that Trump is the greatest president worthy of a Nobel Prize...but getting concessions that will later prove to be grossly outrageous?
• Health of Trump or Biden or both?

• 
  Trump and Anthony Fauci getting early vaccinations for COVID-19 by mid-October?
• Anthony Fauci and Robert Redfield resigning when Trump announces the early success of a vaccine?

There will be at least one more, but will it make any difference on who wins on November 3?

I would like to end this posting on a solemn note in honor of RGB.  Here is an evening with Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg at the National Constitution Center.    It is almost two hours long, featuring the Notorious RBG in Song.  Just transport yourself to 19 December 2019, settle back, and reminisce.

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