"I NEVER wanted to make widgets like everyone else. I wanted to do something that mattered," Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor told a group of high school students a couple years ago. The earnest words of one of the most influential women alive, humble enough to bristle at such a description, might also be the most apt of characterizations of her remarkable life.
The term "cowboy" has become pejorative in recent years, an epithet used as shorthand for a cocky foreign policy and the general arrogance of a "with us or with the outlaws" attitude. But there was a time in this country's history when a cowboy meant something else entirely, when the very word could tap into a shared imagery of independence and self-reliance, hardscrabble pragmatism and the ability to forge one's own path. Americans have never liked to think of themselves as a people of bean-counters and widget-makers. We've always been a land of cowboys, and O'Connor's resignation signals an end to the era of our first great cowgirl.
Raised on a Southwest cattle ranch, branding steers and shooting a .22 by the time she was eight years old, O'Connor quite literally fits the image of the Western maverick. But the trailblazer role is as much style as substance. Beholden to no one, O'Connor charted her own course in her decisions, eluding any constituency- conservative, liberal, feminist, religious or otherwise -- that might try to claim her. Rather than make rulings in keeping with a grand strategy like some of her colleagues, O'Conner turned the pragmatic eye toward her duties, valuing the individual worth of each case. As a former clerk notes, "she didn't need a theory to know an injustice when she saw it."
And now the cowgirl has chosen to ride off into the sunset, as cowgirls are wont to do. Her timing is inopportune for Americans who value moderation and independent thinking; George Bush's record on judicial nominees gives pause to anyone who values reproductive choice, social safety nets for society's most vulnerable members and the separation of church and state. Justices so far out of the mainstream that they are on record as opposing child labor laws have been pushed through a Republican Senate by the narrowest of margins, and there is no doubt that radical right wingers are salivating at the opportunity to rectify what they perceive as Ronald Reagan's mistake in appointing O'Connor. There is no doubt that there are many who wish the sunset scene had come just a few years further down the dusty road.
But Alzheimer's waits for no one, no matter how important their spouse's job might be, and O'Connor's decision to leave the bench to care for her ailing husband merits nothing but admiration. And though O'Connor represented the middle-of-the-road conservativism of a bygone day, it comes as no shock that the former Goldwater girl would choose to retire under a Republican president.
Sadly, this particular Republican president has proven himself willfully apt at exploiting, rather than healing, the partisan divides in this country. He may find it difficult to start healing now. Washington is full of widget-makers and ideologues, small minds who will demand that he appoint a replacement with an agenda other than seeking justice, a commitment to a cause other than the great history and grand promise of our country.
But what lies before Bush is the chance to unite Americans beyond the rancor, personal attacks, and fear mongering that have colored his years in office. How well served our nation would be if he were to, just this once, follow the lead of a real cowgirl. How true a legacy it would be for this administration to ignore the demands of the fundamentalists and to choose a successor for O'Connor who believes in seeking out that middle ground she inhabited, where the Constitution and common sense harmonize.
Even better, how fitting a tribute it would be to the cowgirl who eschewed the widgets and chose a life that mattered.
Katie Cristol is a Cavalier Daily columnist. She can be reached at kcristol@cavalierdaily.com.
Read More
PATEL: Personal development courses support students beyond the gradebook
By Heer Patel | 4 days agoThe University must rethink its approach to education beyond traditional major-specific requirements and mandate personal development courses.
EDITORIAL: Commercialization threatens U.Va.’s educational mission
By Editorial Board | 4 days agoAfter all, measuring the University’s worth in terms of accrued capital, operational efficiency and numerical rankings molds this space into just another cookie-cutter institution.
YOUNIS: Why every U.Va. student should say yes to English
By Ayat Younis | January 9, 2025Every student at the University, regardless of their primary field of study, can professionally and academically benefit from engaging with the English department.
