This Was Super Offensive, Ted Cruz

During the sixth GOP debate Thursday night, Texas Senator Ted Cruz implied that four Supreme Court justices will die in the next four years, allowing the next president to elect a handful of new justices. While some of the justices are in or approaching their 80s, it was super insulting for Cruz to talk about their impending deaths — especially Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the oldest sitting justice and a feminist hero to many. Cruz's point was that the next president could make a huge impact on American law by replacing liberal Supreme Court justices, and a Republican president would be able to create a more conservative bench.

Not only is the Notorious RBG the oldest justice, she's also one of the most liberal, meaning the GOP would benefit the most from replacing her. I don't know about you, but I definitely don't like thinking about Ginsburg's death, even if it's hypothetical. Of course, I know that she has to die at some point (she is a human after all), but it's a subject that I prefer to remain blissfully unaware of. She's only 82 years old, and could continue to serve on the bench for years.

Regardless of her age, people shouldn't speculate about when she'll die during a televised political event — it's just disrespectful. Even if politicians need to be pragmatic about the possibility of older justices dying, it's offensive to use someone's inevitable death as a talking point about building up your political party.

It shouldn't come as a surprise that presidents appoint Supreme Court justices that most closely align with their beliefs, so it's true that the next president could drastically shape the Supreme Court's ideological leanings for the foreseeable future. Justices Antonin Scalia and Anthony Kennedy will turn 80 years old in 2016, and Justice Stephen Breyer will turn 78, so Cruz was no doubt referring to these three and RBG as the four that will likely die in the next four years. If a single president were to replace all four, the bench would move much closer to that president's side of the aisle.

Despite this possibility, no one knows for sure when RGB, Scalia, Kennedy, or Breyer will pass away or retire, so predicting when that might be to bolster the GOP is in poor taste.