Justice Clarence Thomas has been under non-stop attack for decades by the Leftist media machine. Justice Samuel Alito, much the same. By contrast, the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had an easy ride. Ginsburg, who passed away in September 2020, was considered by the Left to be a pioneer on the Supreme Court.
Like clockwork, she led the liberal charge in nearly every case that came before the Court. Based on her ‘creative’ interpretations of law, one can deduce that virtually nothing in the U.S. Constitution was sacred to her.
Stamp of Approval
Three years after her death, she was honored on a postage stamp issued by the U.S. Postal Service. The stamp became available for use in mid-October 2023. It depicts Justice Ginsburg adorned in the traditional black robe and her signature white collar.
Many people, even on the Right, have no qualms about this particular honor; it is simply a postage stamp and Ginsburg was the second woman to be on the Court, following Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.
The question arises, who else on the court meets the criterion but has not been so posthumously honored on a postage stamp? The fundamental criterion is to have been an individual of distinction and, of course, to be deceased.
William Rehnquist, serving as Chief Justice from 1986 until his death in 2005, had a significant impact. Rehnquist triumphed in his role and displayed uncanny leadership and pragmatic skills. His even temperament aided his efforts when seeking a majority opinion. The Liberal Justices often acknowledged Rehnquist’s evenhandedness in dealing with opposing viewpoints.
Politics Aside, Best of Friends
Justice Antonin Scalia, representing conservative views, was as prominent on the court as Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Because of his outgoing personality, more people are familiar with him.
Away from the court, Scalia and Ginsburg were great friends. They often vacationed together with their spouses. This astonished many people who felt that the wedge between Left and Right had grown so wide that one could not maintain such friendships. Nevertheless, they did. Scalia died in 2016, four years before Ginsburg, but has yet to be posthumously honored on a postage stamp.
So, exactly who becomes honored via the U.S. Postal Service and why? One might presume that such a tribute is bipartisan and that liberal chief justices and justices would not be the only ones considered for the honor, but that presumption is incorrect.
Partisanship to the Bitter End
It is time, not only via U.S. Postal Service, but in so many other government agencies — more than 500 of them, counting the minor ones — that partisanship ends as the 2nd Trump Administration as been advocating and addressing. This is the United States of America, a representative republic, with voices along a broad political spectrum.
Should such voices ascend to positions of prominence and distinction, they are candidates for the types of honors that our government and culture have to bestow. To present awards and honors only in one direction is anathema to the founding of our country and how we have progressed.
To ignore roughly half of the country and the leaders of that half of the country is to commit a grave error. This happens because select committees within agencies summarily decide that political viewpoints are more important than brilliance and valid contributions. Such actions are a disservice to Americans of all political persuasions.
The Progressive Award Industry
A variety of other honors and distinctions routinely go to those on the Left while ignoring those on the Right. The Pulitzer Prize, as a prime example, invariably rewards those on the Left. For a conservative to win that prize, one would have to make a contribution that is beyond extraordinary. Likewise, Academy Awards – Oscars – accrue to those on the Left, with a handful of exceptions such as Sylvester Stallone, Jon Voight, and Clint Eastwood.
Internationally, the vast majority of Nobel Peace Prize winners lean Left. Why? The awards committee members for the Nobel Prize lean heavily Left. By any objective measure, President Trump should have received the Nobel Peace Prize in his first term, brokering the peace between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Israel and Sudan, and Israel and Morocco, let alone for accomplishments in his second term. He has been nominated, but you can hold your breath from now until the end of time, and the Nobel Peace Prize committee will not give him the award.
The inventor of dynamite, Alfred Nobel, left $250 million (in today’s dollars) in his will to fund the prize. Issuing awards only in one political direction cheapens the honor and besmirches Nobel’s intentions.