Word: ginsburg
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...Although Ginsburg's indiscretion may have been common among members of the Big Chill generation, his confession fatally undermined his support among the Capitol Hill conservatives who had lobbied so hard for his nomination. The disclosure was the final straw in a week of controversy that included accusations of conflict of interest over his investment in a cable-television company, charges by a congressional committee that he ordered the destruction of documents while he worked at the Justice Department, allegations that he improperly sidetracked rules to limit the use of cancer-causing asbestos, and the revelation that his wife...
...more substantial jurist might have better withstood the slow drip of corrosive revelations about his earlier life. But so little was known about Ginsburg that it was easy for minor matters to grow into major questions about his fitness to serve. His admission that he smoked pot should not have been an automatic disqualification. If it were, the ranks of Government might be devastated. The National Institute on Drug Abuse has reported that more than 23% of the adult population has used marijuana, including a staggering 64% of those ages 18 to 25. Indeed, two Democratic presidential candidates, Albert Gore...
...could the most ardent foe of abortion have written Ginsburg off merely for marrying a doctor who performed the procedure a few times before deciding to stop. Similarly, Ginsburg's investment in a cable-television company while he served in the Justice Department was not illegal. By themselves, these incidents could have been shrugged off. Yet taken together, they hardly painted a portrait of the solid, well-grounded individual the public would normally expect on the Supreme Court...
...Ginsburg also garnered unfavorable publicity over his role as chief of regulatory policy at the White House's Office of Management and Budget in 1985. He helped delay asbestos regulations that were deemed too costly for the number of lives saved. Michigan Democratic Congressman John Dingell accused Ginsburg of destroying drafts of a letter on Government antitrust policy while he was at the Justice Department. Ginsburg countered that the drafts were prepared by his staff without his approval. Without the admission that he had smoked marijuana, it is unlikely that these minor accusations would have derailed Ginsburg's nomination...
When the President nominated him two weeks ago, Ginsburg assured his audience that he was looking forward to the confirmation process. Given the gauntlet that Bork had just run, the statement seemed gracious but a little naive. Given what is now known about Ginsburg, it was foolhardy. In the wake of his withdrawal, few were talking publicly about the long-range implications of the embarrassment. A lame-duck President who has been buffeted by scandal, a stock-market crash and the bruising defeat of his first court nominee could ill afford this latest fiasco...