With the news that Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had heart surgery to have a stent implanted, progressives shudder at thought of her possible demise at age 81.
A true liberal and champion of the downtrodden, Ginsburg refused to leave this summer, and now the US Senate is Republican controlled, so if something happens to her, the GOP will have major input into any Obama appointment to replace her, insuring the likelihood of, at best, a moderate appointee, no way as progressive as Ginsburg has been for the past 22 years.
It is clear that the next Presidential election will determine the long future of the Supreme Court, with the likelihood of multiple replacements of up to four Justices by 2020, including Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Antonin Scalia, and Anthony Kennedy, with all four being in their eighties by the end of the decade.
Meanwhile, the Court has crucial decisions to make by this June, including another challenge to ObamaCare, and the issue of finally resolving the gay marriage issue, with 35 states now allowing it, but a court case trying to upend it and reverse it.
These two decisions, along with some others, will have a lot to do with the final level of success or failure of the Obama Presidency, and it all falls on the health of Ginsburg, along with the hoped for support of Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Kennedy, to join the four liberals on the Court to uphold both ObamaCare and gay marriage!
So the Supreme Court and its reputation is on the line in 2015, and after the Citizens United Case and the Voting Rights Case, the Court needs to redeem itself in some fashion, and this is the turning point for the long term for the image of the Supreme Court!