Word: ginsburgs
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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MANY CRITICS of Ginsburg, of course, would argue that privacy is not the crux of the issue here. The Ginsburg "scandal," after all, raised questions not only about the nominee's use of dope, but also about his integrity. Smoking the stuff may be a sin, but lying about it on a background check form when nominated for the Court of Appeals is what's cardinal. Had Ginsburg not done that, his nomination may very well have survived...
Integrity is certainly the most important of a public servant's requisite virtues, and strictly speaking Ginsburg and Hart failed on this account. The fundamental question raised by the Ginsburg and Hart affairs, however, is not truthfulness versus untruthfuless. It goes much deeper, asking whether any person or agency has the right to ask about entirely private matters in the first place. For if such probing is inappropriate, the ultimate truthfulness of Ginsburg's--or any other candidate's--response must be seen as entirely irrelevant. A public figure has, in essence, the right to lie about or fudge questions...
...perfectly clear that Ginsburg should never have had to answer questions about what he smoked and when. True, drugs are illegal, and it can be argued that drug use as a law professor reveals a basic contempt for law. But many, many activities and forms of behavior that take place in private are technically illegal, and if a nominee can be forced to disclose whether he has ever gotten high, there is no limit to how far his privacy can be invaded...
...feel compelled to ask about drugs, why stop there? Why not inquire about other forms of vice and lawlessness? Rather than focusing on drug use a decade ago, perhaps we should have investigated Ginsburg's respect for law as manifested in his private life during the past year, while he was a federal judge. It certainly would have given us a better picture of this new-fangled, post-pot, law'n'order Ginsburg...
...right to privacy which Americans vindicated a month ago must not be chiseled away. Now that we have rejected Bork, we must now reject Borkism in all its manifestations. Unless things change radically, Ginsburg's defeat may very well signal the vindication of Bork's principles...