More Good News: RBG Awards Gala Cancelled Due To Backlash

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, RBG or “The Notorious RBG” as she came to be affectionately known was a national treasure. She broke barriers and in doing so provided opportunities for not just women but all people to achieve dreams many were hesitant to even dream. But especially for women. The country and the world are better off for the service and leadership of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.  When you think of RGB, and people who might receive an award bearing her name this year’s list of honorees were worse than a slap in the face of her memory. Worse even than going to her grave in Arlington and pissing on it. When the names were announced last week the backlash was swift and severe, and earlier today the wise decision was made to cancel the awards gala planned for next month.

RBG inspired people, and again not just women. Still, give the barriers she broke and the new world of opportunities she opened for women it seemed fitting an award in her honor to acknowledge others, women in particular would be established in her name.  Past honorees in the short history of this award named in her honor would all agree have met with her approval. But this year? As The Wall Street Journal article states the honorees chosen were shall we say not exactly the type of people one would associate with the values and legacy of Ruth Bader Ginsburg:

The recipients of this year’s award, which included men for the first time, were Elon Musk, outspoken billionaire and X owner; Michael R. Milken, the billionaire philanthropist who spent nearly two years in prison in the 1990s for securities and tax violations; and actor Sylvester Stallone. Rupert Murdoch, the founder of Fox News and chairman emeritus of Fox Corporation and News Corp, owner of The Wall Street Journal, was also an honoree. Businesswoman Martha Stewart was the lone female honoree.

Even the lone woman on the list, Martha Stewart wouldn’t qualify under the standards that supposedly were the criteria for potential recipients. And not one of those men on the list would have met with her approval. Hell, she spent her life battling with (and so often beating) assholes like every one of those guys!  This is the equivalent of giving Rush Limbaugh the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Just throwing one of the medals on the ground and taking a giant Trumpian dump on it.

Here on Politizoom Ursula wrote about this years awardees and she really lit into the organizers.  The award was created late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, was originally created to honor extraordinary women who have made a positive and notable influence on society.  This year the Opperman Foundation decided to change the rules.

I suppose we should be surprised the Opperman Foundation has some sneaky-assed people running things. The kind of people who would think long term, setting up something meaningful and let it get established with a good reputation before pulling off the mask and revealing the truth. After all, the foundation’s chair Julie Opperman is a big Republican donor, and the Chair of the RBG award itself is Brendan Sullivan who is the dude who got Ollie North off the hook for HIS crimes.

Well, as I’ve said and as reported by the WSJ the backlash against this f**kery was swift and severe. Including loud and pointed criticism from RGB’s children and grandchildren who called for the removal of their mom/grandmom’s name from the award:

After the slate of recipients was announced last week, Ginsburg’s family demanded her name be removed from the award.

Ginsburg’s legacy was of a commitment to justice, said her daughter, Jane C. Ginsburg, a professor at Columbia University School of Law, in a statement on behalf of the family before the cancellation of the award ceremony.

“This year, the Opperman Foundation has strayed far from the original mission of the award and from what Justice Ginsburg stood for,” Ginsburg said

At least the foundation has realized it stepped in the dino sized pile of feces it created and made the wise decision to cancel the planned awards gala. To “shower off the sh*t” so to speak. There was even an attempt at graciousness in the announcement that next months even had been cancelled. Although they didn’t say whether this years recipients would in fact get their awards they did say:

“Over the next several months the Foundation will reconsider its mission and make a judgment about how or whether to proceed in the future,” the group said in its Monday statement. “We will consider whether there is a way forward that can bring honor and joy to the process with a minimum amount of controversy.”

I for one DO think they will try and sneak in some quiet little reception where the undeserving asshats will get their medals and have their names officially added to the role of honorees. On the other hand consider this. The Notorious RBG was one of a kind. When she was created the mold was broken. However her daughter Jane is a force in and of her own right. You can be sure she’ll be watching like a hawk and if Sullivan and Opperman try to pull off this kind of sneak Jane Ginsburg will make the past few days seem like a relaxing vacation to Sullivan, Opperman and the rest of the gang that tried to foist this travesty on the name and reputation of RBG.

Stay tuned because we might be called upon to raise holy hell on social media to shame the foundation, and the actual “honorees” who should be ashamed of themselves. Of course, none of them are. That doesn’t mean THEIR names and reputations can’t be taken through a drag in the mud if they try to polish their turd selves with the mantle of the Honorable Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.