Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who turned 83 in March, is already the oldest sitting justice on the high court, which naturally raises interest in her possible retirement plans. With this in mind, her comments to the Associated Press today were that much more notable.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg says she doesn't want to think about the possibility of Donald Trump winning the White House, and she predicts the next president -- "whoever she will be" -- will have a few appointments to make to the Supreme Court.

In an interview Thursday in her court office, the 83-year-old justice and leader of the court's liberal wing said she presumes Democrat Hillary Clinton will be the next president. Asked what if Republican Donald Trump won instead, she said, "I don't want to think about that possibility, but if it should be, then everything is up for grabs."
Ginsburg added, smiling. "It's likely that the next president, whoever she will be, will have a few appointments to make."

Well, yes, it's quite likely, indeed. There's already one vacancy pending, and as we recently discussed, by Inauguration Day 2017, two justices -- Ginsburg and Anthony Kennedy -- will be over the age of 80, well above the average retirement age for a justice (78.7). What's more, Justice Stephen Breyer will be 78.2 years old on the next Inauguration Day, which means he'll reach the average retirement age during the next president's first year.

What's particularly interesting about all of this, however, is the way in which Ginsburg approaches this issue: the celebrated jurist seems to realize she's taking an enormous gamble with "everything" on the line.
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