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For Some Reason, People Are Trying to Make ‘Notorious A.C.B.’ Happen
It’s never going to happen
In her final years, the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg became virtually synonymous with “Notorious R.B.G.”
Borne of a Tumblr tribute in 2013, the nickname was both a nod to the late rapper (and fellow Brooklynite) Notorious B.I.G. and a commemoration of Ginsberg’s history-making, decadeslong judicial record as a champion of equal rights.
Now, for whatever reason, Amy Coney Barrett fans are trying to repurpose it.
The memes began flowing even before President Donald Trump formally nominated Barrett to take Ginsberg’s Supreme Court seat. Senate Republicans have since joined in, selling T-shirts emblazoned with the caption “Notorious A.C.B.” alongside illustrations of the anti-abortion judge wearing the trademark “Notorious” crown.
Intentionally or otherwise, conservatives’ shallow appropriation of the “Notorious” nickname appears only to emphasize the vast ideological gulf between the two women jurists. It may be, as Ashley Reese suggests in Jezebel, that this “cynical branding” is meant to distract us from the grim reality before us: “A 48-year-old judge with an extremist track record will have the power to take away the rights of Black and brown people, LGBTQ people, workers, and women for decades to come.”
