that's right h. r mcmaster and lawrence fishburne one of those guys was in the matrix i'm gonna ask this first thing i'm asking h. r mcmaster which one of you was it welcome to a late show i'm your host stephen colbert you know me there's my wife evie right over there i'm so glad she's here because i don't want to be alone right now i don't know about you life can be hard but i like to think i can take a lot of punishment you know is that all you got old man stuff like that but damn damn 2020 is a relentless opponent just when you think it's finished punching you in the face it starts working the midriff and kneeing you in the groin between now and the election was already going to be a dark dirty road but on friday it got so much worse because our country said goodbye to a hero supreme court justice ruth bader ginsburg who passed away at the age of 87.
the wave of grief at her loss was immediate thousands came to the steps of the supreme court to hold a vigil in her honor a new mural in dc paid her tribute and if you're like me you got texts from everyone you know with the even mix of sadness and swearing justice ginberg led a pioneering life she was a judge she was an attorney but above all she was a tireless advocate not only for women's rights but for equality for all americans i know exactly how tireless she was because two years ago i got to work out with her that day she cast the deciding vote in the landmark case of 85 year old fitness v my self-esteem ginsburg was known for her tenacity she was just the second woman ever appointed to the supreme court and when it came to carving out her place in the boys club she said that she took her mother's advice be a lady be independent the lighting meant don't give way to emotions that sap your energy like anger take a deep breath and speak calmly that is good advice for any supreme court justice hey boof douche be a lady ginsburg was appointed to the supreme court in 1993 and during her nearly 30-year tenure she authored some of the court's most consequential decisions and its most scathing descents which earned her the nickname the notorious rbg aka ruthie smalls rpg believe not in special treatment but an equal treatment which she summed up with this quote i ask no favor for my sex all i ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks damn right especially hers because those cravats were dry clean only but americans didn't get any time to mourn this great justice because less than two hours after we learned of ginsburg's death we heard from senate majority leader and neutered dog sack mitch mcconnell who said president trump's nominee will receive a vote on the floor of the united states senate he couldn't even wait till the morning that's like a husband rushing to the scene of the accident and going no not my wife hey is that emt single cause i am apparently since 2016 mcconnell's had a change of heart or whatever squirming bag of scorpions occupies that dark cavity because back then he opposed barack obama's nomination of merrick garland and he explained it this way the american people deserve to be heard on this matter that's the fairest and most reasonable approach today voters have already begun to choose the next president who in turn will nominate the next supreme court justice and keep in mind back in 2016 that was nine months before the election this time the election has literally already started voting has begun in as many as 20 states so for mcconnell not in an election year uh-uh but in an election is fine that's like saying i'd never cheat during my engagement but at the wedding i mean come on the bridesmaids are just hanging there like ripe fruit so what has changed well now mcconnell claims that since the 1880s no senate has confirmed an opposite party's president supreme court nominee in a presidential election year okay but he did not mention anything about political parties in his justification in 2016. he's like that neighborhood kid who keeps changing the rules of the game the floor is lava but i can walk on it because i have red shoes but red shoes don't work for you because you have an older brother that's also why i get two cupcakes and i get to take away your healthcare which you're really gonna need because the couch is also lava mcconnell isn't the only fragrant hypocrite so is south carolina senator and sad wet corn muffin remembering when he used to be lindsey graham lindsey graham graham has already said he'd vote to seat trump's nominee but back in 2016 graham promised that he would treat a republican nominee the same way he was treating merrick garland and he had this challenge for the press i want you to use my words against me if there's a republican president in 2016 and a vacancy occurs in the last year of the first term you can say lindsey graham said let's let the next president who whoever it might be made that nomination and you could use my words against me and you'd be absolutely right i'd love to use your words against you lindsay but they're clearly empty now a gym sock full of combination locks that's got some heft and it's not just mcconnell and graham listen to all these republican senators in 2016. there is a long tradition that you don't do this in an election year i don't think we should be moving forward on a nominee in the last year of this president's term i would say that if it was a republican president the american people ought to have a say who sits in that supreme court seat why would we deny the voters a chance to weigh in on the makeup of the supreme court we're not going to nominate a supreme court justice until the people have spoken let the new president make this lasting decision without the political influence of the election hanging over it of course ultimately republican senators have no honor so they don't care if we call them hypocrites it's like the fifth victim saying to jack the ripper hey you keep stabbing me in the chest buddy you're really gonna start to seem like a murderer i mean in the public's eyes i understand all the pressure you must be under to keep stabbing me along with the senators then canada trump said this about merrick garland i think the next president should make the pick i would be not in favor of going forward but surprise saturday he said this we said that if for any reason we have a vacancy on the united states supreme court we will fill that vacancy we're not going to say and by the way we have plenty of time there's a lot of time you know you're talking about you're talking about january 20th right [Music] okay so trump has a new chant but unlike build the wall i'm pretty sure he can fill that seat you have to get your joy where you can trump is thrilled to have this opportunity a source close to him revealed that trump has been salivating to nominate a replacement so get ready for u.
s supreme court justice extra crispy she's sure to cast the deciding vote on gravy v arteries trump really wants the supreme court fight but there's a danger in trump basing his re-election campaign on this because 62 percent of americans want the seat to remain vacant compared to only 23 percent who want him to fill it people hate the way i shank cove and quick find something else people hate to take their mind off of it i've narrowed it down to hastily replacing the most beloved supreme court justice or dropkicking baby yoda on this george with weak stephanopoulos nancy pelosi explained that she's keeping her options open some have mentioned the possibility if they try to push through a nominee in a lame duck session that that you and the house could move to impeach president president trump or attorney general barr as a way of stalling and preventing the senate from acting on this nomination well we have our options we have arrows in our quiver that i'm not about to discuss right now okay glad to hear it madam speaker but can we update your weaponry please democrats may have a quiver of arrows trump has a literal heat ray but still all this talk of impeachment does take me back to a simpler time like impeachment that's all we had to worry about back then you know it used to take several decades for culture to get nostalgic but the past nine months have felt so long it's time for vh1's new series i love the january i can't believe the haircuts we had back then in that we would get haircuts and look what we were wearing pants now as important as justice ginsburg work was to all americans and as effective as i am by her loss i think it's fair to say that her life's work was especially meaningful to american women we're here to talk more about that is one of my writers and certified woman eliana cortler eliana thanks steve i can't speak for all women but the women of the late show chose me to talk about justice ginsburg for three reasons i'm tiny jewish and i have the workout routine of an eight-year-old i just moved up to two pound weights nice nice so so how are you doing my triceps are a little sore i mean about ruth bader ginsburg's passing oh i'm sad and i'm mad i'm scared upset frustrated i owe so much to ruth bader ginsburg her work paved the way for me to get a mortgage and get a car loan without a man to co-sign she's the reason i can have my own credit card without her i never would have been able to buy these custom purple velour sweatpants that say nominee and giant rhinestones across the butt thank you justice ginsburg and i'm sorry we lost to john oliver are you apologizing to me or justice ginsburg both but actually her rbg pioneered the idea that discrimination on the basis of sex violates the equal protection clause of the constitution in 1996 she got the virginia military institute to allow women to attend thanks to her i had the option to attend military college i didn't take it i cannot climb a rope neither can i and that's a quality steve you and i have the same muscle mass but you have more womanly hips this is true everything about how she lived her life was inspirational rbg wasn't a miracle worker she was a worker worker there's a story from 2014 when she was already 81 where she stayed up working on an emergency brief until 5am i can barely stay up till 5 pm i know i wrote that line for you if rbg taught us anything it's that neck doilies never go out of style and that you overcome your opponent by outworking your opponent there's a reason she worked until 87 and still wasn't finished but we're the ones who get to finish her work and we're all working from home which means we get to do it in these eliana cortlander sparkly pants everybody we've got a great show for you tonight i'll be talking to lieutenant general h.
