No, and here’s why in her own words

Just a couple of months back I wondered out loud as to why Justice Ginsburg shows no signs of retiring while President Obama still warms the chair in the Oval Office, especially given her age, health, the precarious balance of the Supreme Court, and the lack of any guarantee that there will be a solid shot later at at least a half-decent successor for her.

With a hat-tip to ThinkProgress for pointing the way, here’s Justice Ginsburg in her own words, courtesy of an interview with Elle magazine’s Jessica Weisberg:

Who do you think President Obama could appoint at this very day, given the boundaries that we have? If I resign any time this year, he could not successfully appoint anyone I would like to see in the court. [The Senate Republicans] took off the filibuster for lower federal court appointments, but it remains for this court. So anybody who thinks that if I step down, Obama could appoint someone like me, they’re misguided. As long as I can do the job full steam…. I think I’ll recognize when the time comes that I can’t any longer. But now I can.

Put that way, I think I see her reasoning quite clearly. Here’s wishing her good health, a persistently sound mind, and a very long life. The alternatives are frightening.

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Image credit: Official SCOTUS portrait, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.