Really. In an interview given this week on Egyptian TV, which you can watch here, she says:
You should certainly be aided by all the constitution-writing that has gone one since the end of World War II. I would not look to the US constitution, if I were drafting a constitution in the year 2012. I might look at the constitution of South Africa. That was a deliberate attempt to have a fundamental instrument of government that embraced basic human rights, had an independent judiciary... It really is, I think, a great piece of work that was done. Much more recent than the US constitution - Canada has a Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It dates from 1982. You would almost certainly look at the European Convention on Human Rights. Yes, why not take advantage of what there is elsewhere in the world?
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May '10
Re: Ruth Bader Ginsburg to Egypt: US Constitution Not That Great
Who's read the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms?
Mar '11
Re: Ruth Bader Ginsburg to Egypt: US Constitution Not That Great
Ably argued Valiuth, yet your defense is the statist screed writ large. "Beware the prols, they are not fit to choose their own fate! Constrain them for their own good."
Heaven forfend that future generations may legislate, adjudicate or pray tell even amend the constitution to decide their own destiny.
Skillfully argued and you point out the dangers inherent in Egypt's future well, yet in the end it is still an argument for despotism.
Jul '10
Re: Ruth Bader Ginsburg to Egypt: US Constitution Not That Great
And there are people willing to sit out this election???
If it must be Mitt, so be it.
Jul '11
Re: Ruth Bader Ginsburg to Egypt: US Constitution Not That Great
Valiuth: I'll attempt a defense (for the sake of even handedness). The US constitution is not very specific when it comes to the articles and even in the amendments it often uses language which though elegant often leaves a lot of holes which need interpreting. After all if the constitution where an iron clad document there would not be this nearly Talmudic study of the meaning of its clauses. Things would be spelled out very clearly leaving as little room for interpretation as possible.
Thus something has to be said for writing a very tight document which clearly defines all the powers of the government and the rights of the people. Our constitution in many ways is kind of loose a sketch more than a drawing....
There is no such thing as a tight document in the era of “It depends on what the meaning of the words 'is' is.” –Bill Clinton
When you can redefine words at this level nothing truly has any real meaning. All that matters is political will and force.
Jul '10
Re: Ruth Bader Ginsburg to Egypt: US Constitution Not That Great
And if it is Mitt, we all need to fight hard - for him and also ensure retaining the House and capturing the Senate.
Dec '10
Re: Ruth Bader Ginsburg to Egypt: US Constitution Not That Great
Well, it turns out that a siting Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court and a former a member of the ACLU board of directors is not so into the U.S. Constitution. Gee, who saw that coming? (Heck, we knew it all along!)
Jul '10
Re: Ruth Bader Ginsburg to Egypt: US Constitution Not That Great
From the "It's Even Worse than You Thought Department."
Oct '11
Re: Ruth Bader Ginsburg to Egypt: US Constitution Not That Great
George Savage: My sources tell me that Justice Ginsburg continued after the recording ended.
BEGIN TRANSCRIPT
GINSBERG; (Chewing bubblegum) The US Constitution is, like, so ... old. The authors are all, like, old, too; dead white men, or whatever. They didn't even have airplanes or iPods or anything. And, like, they were slaveholders who thought African-Americans should be three-fifths of a person and women shouldn't vote. And it's so totally, like, hard for the government to, like, do things to make things better, dontcha think?
END TRANSCRIPT · 1 hour ago
GREAT!..... but we are doomed.
Dec '11
Re: Ruth Bader Ginsburg to Egypt: US Constitution Not That Great
This lady is on your supreme court? Doesn't the cognitive dissonance make her madder than a cut snake?
I have family who worked in South Africa.. that new constitution of theirs has not slowed murder, farm invasion, rape (including child rape), corruption, or xenophobia against racial and ethnic minorities.
You must win republicans... you must win, and get moving on that Operation counterweight...
Edited on Feb 2 at 11:26pmMay '10
Re: Ruth Bader Ginsburg to Egypt: US Constitution Not That Great
I'm not troubled by the decision of a justice or minister of law to prefer the constitution of a foreign nation over his or her own, per se. Suppose the Republic of Scaliaville emerges from the ashes of a revolutionary conflict in sub-Saharan Africa and adopts a Constitution conforming to the legal and political convictions held by our very own Justice Scalia. Then suppose that another country, the Republic of Scalialand arises too from internal bloodshed, but assume that this fledgling country lacks a constitution. Now, would it be scandalous if Justice Scalia suggested that Scalialand adopt something like the Constitution of Scaliaville over the U.S. Constitution? I don't think so. I see no contradiction or inescapable moral dilemma in upholding one constitution as a justice of law while preferring another.
Edited on Feb 2 at 11:26pmMar '11
Re: Ruth Bader Ginsburg to Egypt: US Constitution Not That Great
You mean that Constitution that is, like, over a 100 years old, written by old, white slave-owners, and only containing negative rights?
All "progressives" think like this, but they don't often say it - that is the only surprise here.
Mr Biden smirked, Mr Obama flubbed his lines.
Feb '11
Re: Ruth Bader Ginsburg to Egypt: US Constitution Not That Great
I am trying to picture this.
Edited on Feb 3 at 12:27amFeb '11
Re: Ruth Bader Ginsburg to Egypt: US Constitution Not That Great
Sorry. "Edit" created a new post.
Edited on Feb 3 at 12:24amFeb '11
Re: Ruth Bader Ginsburg to Egypt: US Constitution Not That Great
I really messed up the editing, didn't I?!
Edited on Feb 3 at 12:25amMay '10
Re: Ruth Bader Ginsburg to Egypt: US Constitution Not That Great
Since nobody else has mentioned the obvious, allow me. Utterly unsurprising as this is, it is precisely the reason why this election is important. With good fortune smiling, the next President may have the opportunity to replace Justice Ginsburg. Wouldn't it be nice to have someone with an appreciation for the document that is supposed to guide the court's deliberations?
Nov '11
Re: Ruth Bader Ginsburg to Egypt: US Constitution Not That Great
Article 6 required that Bader-Ginsberg "shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution."
In accordance with Article 6, she did "solemnly swear (or affirm)" that she would "perform all the duties incumbent upon" her as a Supreme Court Justice "under the Constitution," of which duties the most tautologIcally obvious is the duty to support the Constitution.
Her putridly banal statement that she "would not look to the US constitution, if [she] were drafting a constitution in the year 2012" does not support the Constitution Her putridly banal statement instead undermines the Constitution by impugning the continuing value of the formative and supremely authoratative expression we the people ordained and established in order to form a more perfect union.
Her words, if accepted as guiding wisdom from a sitting Justice in the year 2012 or any other year, would dissolve the foundation of our union. For such bad behavior, the proper remedy is impeachment and removal.
Edited on Feb 3 at 1:47amApr '11
Re: Ruth Bader Ginsburg to Egypt: US Constitution Not That Great
All fair points. Were Justice Ginsberg challenged on this and clarified her comments with your logic I'd be ecstatic (okay, if she were challenged on this at all I'd be ecstatic).
However, how is one to interpret this: "I might look at the constitution of South Africa. That was a deliberate attempt to have a fundamental instrument of government that embraced basic human rights."
She's clearly expressing the view that protecting citizens from the tyranny of government was not an "embrace (of) basic human rights," because she has a distorted view of "human rights" that is fundamentally at odds with the values that created this great nation.
That said, the framers weren't perfect. If anything, history proves they put way too much faith in the reading comprehension skills of future generations.
Apr '11
Re: Ruth Bader Ginsburg to Egypt: US Constitution Not That Great
I have.
Oct '10
Re: Ruth Bader Ginsburg to Egypt: US Constitution Not That Great
Did anyone actually watch the clip? It is clearly edited extracts, and the feeling I got was that the interviewer prompted her as to whether, in writing the new constitution, there are other things to look at than the US one.
Earlier she speaks proudly of the US constitution as "the oldest written constitution still in force in the world."
More importantly, she makes the following excellent point:
That strikes me as a sentiment that a Reagan or a Levin or a Founder could agree with.
She then goes on - prompted, as I suspect above - to say that other documents should be looked at. I don't like those constitutions much, but it's hardly treason.
Oct '10
Re: Ruth Bader Ginsburg to Egypt: US Constitution Not That Great
Our Constitution is very specific to our national circumstances and demographics. I don't think it would be ideal for a society as different from us as Egypt is. In that sense, Ginsburg is correct.