Monday, February 15, 2016

Scalia-Ginsburg: Life Lesson from This Odd Couple


How could a very liberal, Jewish feminist and an arch-conservative, Roman Catholic traditionalist be best buddies for the past 30 years? Here are some lessons from the Supreme Court’s oddest couple.
● Ginsburg’s health problems were well known. She is a cancer survivor. Less well known, Scalia’s doctors report his heart was too weak for shoulder surgery to relieve pain. They probably shared private details of their aging and illnesses, and drew strength from each other.
● Ginsburg often wrote dissenting opinions to Scalia’s majority opinions, but privately he shared advance copies of his work so that she could strengthen her arguments—often at the expense of exposing Scalia as an unkindly (to put it mildly) justice.
● They lived life to the fullest—and shared vacations. Ginsburg went parasailing in Europe, while Scalia watched, below in fear that his friend would blow away. Before Scalia died, he completed a ten day trip to Asia and went to Texas on hunting trip—hardly the picture of an overweight, pain-stricken man with a serious heart condition nearing his 80th birthday.

The best lesson we can learn from this odd but committed relationship: Don’t demonize people just because you strongly disagree with them. Share a meal; your work; your leisure time— and your compassion for each other.

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