About a dozen members and supporters of Four Rivers Indivisible dropped off flowers and hand-written messages at the door of Sen. Mitch McConnell’s Paducah field office Friday.
The tributes were for the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, not the majority leader. Many of the messages were similar to what Leslie McColgin penned: “Please honor her wishes and her legacy – No confirmation until after inauguration.”
Four Rivers is part of the national Indivisible organization, which called on its members to deposit flowers and messages at their senators’ office on Friday, urging no move to replace Ginsburg until the next president is inaugurated.
As expected, President Trump today nominated Judge Amy Conen Barrett, a conservative favorite. A four-day hearing on Barrett’s nomination in the Senate Judiciary Committee is set for Oct. 12. While the date for a full Senate vote is uncertain, her confirmation seems likely.
The Senate GOP edge is 53-47 – 45 Democrats and two independents who caucus with the minority party. Only two Republicans committed to hold off on a vote until after the next president was inaugurated.
“Because of Covid, nobody was in McConnell’s office, so we left the flowers and messages in the hall,” McColgin said. “There was a phone number to call and we called and told them the flowers and messages were there.”
Outside, Greg Waldrop, a retired Methodist minister, provided an impromptu invocation that included the Jewish Prayer for the Dead. He asked people to share their feelings about Ginsburg, who, also on Friday, became the first woman and first Jewish person to lie in state in the Capitol.
McConnell did not attend the ceremony in Washington.
McColgin was pleased with the turnout in Paducah, the main town in the Jackson Purchase, as far west as Kentucky goes. “It was really nice. Everyone has made positive comments on my Facebook page.”
“What a great presentation!!!,’ messaged Karen Selsted. “This was a wonderful way for us to pay tribute to Justice Ginsburg. My eyes are filling with tears as I see this come to fruition. Thank you, Leslie, and everyone who participated. We CAN make a difference!!! Someone in the McConnell camp is still thinking about this right now!!!
Selstad couldn’t come and so McColgin brought Selsted’s bouquet and message. “Why don’t you honor her death bed wish?” Selstad wrote on her card, which came with a bouquet of goldenrod and other flowers.
Shortly before her life ended, Ginsburg said her “most fervent wish” was she “will not be replaced until a new president is installed.” Only hours after she died, McConnell announced, “President Trump’s nominee will receive a vote on the floor of the United States Senate.”
In 2016, McConnell blocked even a hearing for Merrick Garland, President Obama’s high court nominee to succeed Justice Antonin Scalia.”We think the important principle in the middle of this presidential year is that the American people need to weigh in and decide who’s going to make this decision,” Kentucky’s senior senator said.
Other messages delivered to McConnell’s office quoted Ginsburg: “Fight for the things you care about but do it in a way that will lead you to join others” and “RBG: ‘MOST FERVENT WISH’ DO NOT FILL MY SEAT UNTIL AFTER ELECTION.”
“Four Rivers Indivisible is one of 6,000 grassroots Indivisible groups across the country taking action to resist the Trump Administration, elect progressive leaders, and realize bold progressive policies,” says the western Kentucky group.
“Four Rivers Indivisible is completely volunteer-run. Your donation will support the direct costs of our activism in Kentucky – we have BIG plans for this year and need your help to enact those plans! Help us fund activities such as our billboards in Paducah targeting Mitch McConnell, voter engagement and education activities to defeat the GOP agenda, pushing back against harmful congressional Republicans like Mitch McConnell, supporting progressive candidates, and bringing change to Kentucky.”
Click here to donate to Four Rivers Indivisible.
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