Was Ruth Bader Ginsburg Tipsy for State of Union?

Image by Getty Images

By Anne Cohen February 13, 2015

Getty Images

If you were watching the State of the Union this year — or following on Twitter — you may have noticed Ruth Bader Ginsberg taking a little snooze during the presidential address. During a talk at The George Washington University this week, the Supreme Court Justice explained why dozed off — and no, it wasn’t Barack Obama’s soothing voice.

“The audience for the most part is awake, because they’re bobbing up and down, and we sit there, stone-faced, sober judges. But we’re not, at least I wasn’t, 100 percent sober,” she said.

“Because before we went to the State of the Union, Justice Kennedy brought in … it was an Opus something or other, very fine California wine, and I vowed this year, just sparkling water, stay away from the wine, but in the end, the dinner was so delicious, it needed wine,” Ginsburg said.

Ladies and gentlemen, Ruth Bader Ginsburg was TIPSY. (Cue “Notorious” chant.)

Apparently, her granddaughters called her out on it after the event. “I got a call when I came home from one of my granddaughters and she said, ‘Bubbe, you were sleeping at the State of the Union,” the Blaze reports Ginsberg saying.

Long live RBG, queen of our judicial system. Bow down.

Anne Cohen was the Forward’s deputy digital media editor. When she’s not looking for the secret Jewish history of Voodoo in New Orleans, or making lists about Ruth Bader Ginsburg, she writes for The Assimilator. She graduated from the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism with an M.S. magazine concentration in 2012.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO