Letters to the Editor: Ruth Bader Ginsburg deserves to be no one’s political football

To the editor: The country is being torn apart by the extremely partisan and often cruel policies of the inept Trump administration. The president brags about his recent Supreme Court appointments and the many other conservative judges he has appointed to the lower courts, as if they are a badge of honor, and he openly wields them as a cudgel against the left. (“How Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the Supreme Court could play a role in the presidential race,” July 25)

That Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s health and remaining tenure is currently being used as a political football — and is serving as a right-wing exclamation point to Trump’s extremely disturbing autocratic rule — seems well beyond the political norm, even for these disturbing times.

Bette Mason, Corona del Mar

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To the editor: In 2016, presidential nominee Donald Trump woefully lacked for political qualifications and experience. But as a nonpareil manipulator of electoral masses, he slyly initiated a vote-clinching tack that might be dubbed the “high court carrot.”

With consummate timing, Trump dangled a well-vetted list of potential Supreme Court appointees in front of voters concerned about a looming liberal shift in the court’s composition. That novel, if cynical, ploy enabled him to run a competitive campaign.

He thereby drew in intelligent right-leaning voters who did not indulge his pitches to the electorate’s baser instincts, but were inclined to take the long view. Four years of political embarrassment would be worth securing a high court that tilted conservative for a decade or more.

So it’s come to this: Presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden will be compelled to dangle his own high court carrot to remain competitive.

Sarah S. Williams, Santa Barbara