Letter: Reminder to pray for RBG’s long life on Supreme Court

Re: “Trump faces backlash for calling impeachment ‘lynching’ ” (Mercurynews.com, Oct. 22) and “Ruth Bader Ginsburg reassures fans she’s doing ‘very well’ at UC Berkeley talk” (Mercurynews.com, Oct. 21):

There are two articles in the Mercury News that are broadly linked by the deliberate abuse of one word: “lynching.”

The first article reports on the president of the United States comparing constitutional efforts to impeach him with lynching, a racist trademark of the pro-slavery movement. Such sacrifices of slaves and abolitionists are not to be blasphemed.

The second article reports on U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg speaking in Berkeley. Although neither she or the article used the word “lynching,” her name brings to mind her colleague on the bench, Clarence Thomas. His use of the phrase (“high-tech lynching”), sensing his confirmation in danger, was deplorable — and unforgettable.

This kind of hostility seems to be common among some recent nominees, e.g., Bork and Kavanaugh.

The moral of the two articles is to pray for a lengthy life on the Supreme Court for RBG, and to vote in 2020.

Henry P. Organ
Menlo Park

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