Politico Editor-in-Chief Michael Shaffer called NPR reporter Nina Totenberg’s new book chronicling her friendship with Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and other D.C. insiders “disgraceful.” In his review in Friday’s Politico magazine for Dinners With Ruth: A Memoir on The Power of Friendships, Shafer sought the book because it revealed that Tottenberg knew how ill Ginsburg was before her death, but kept it a secret. His headline for the piece argued: “Nina Totenberg had a beautiful friendship with RBG. Her book about it is an embarrassment.” Lamenting Totenberg’s failure to warn the world, Schaffer wrote, “But there is a chance that a raw story about Ginsburg’s downfall changed the trajectory that led to the end of Americans’ right to abortion.” GINNI THOMAS, WIFE OF SUPREME COURT CLARENCE THOMAS, AGREE WITH JAN. 6 “VOLUNTARY INTERVIEW” COMMITTEE In this Nov. 30, 2018 file photo, Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg sits with other Supreme Court justices for a group portrait at the Supreme Court in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
His other major criticism of the play was how it portrayed her friendships with isolated and “powerful people” and that it “pulls punches” at those elites that liberals find corrupt. For example, Schaffer noted how Totenberg’s work spoke fondly of the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who attended her dinners. Schaffer claimed that such accounts were becoming “increasingly uncomfortable” to read. His review began by knocking Totenberg for knowing Ginsburg was dying but keeping it private, thus not alerting the public to the supposed political disaster that would follow her death. He said, “It was 2020, the election was coming up, and RBG was dying. During the lockdown, we learn in the book, Totenberg’s house was the only place Ginsburg went other than her own apartment. Their weekly Sabbath dinners made Totenberg one of the few Americans see justice during the months of isolation. He quoted Tottenberg, who realized the end was near, writing, “But as the months passed, it became clear that this disease was not just lung cancer. It was a return of the old pancreatic cancer.” Shaffer asked, “What if Totenberg had gone on the air to say what she knew?” And he claimed, “But there’s a chance that a raw story about Ginsburg’s decline could have changed the trajectory that led to the end of Americans’ right to abortion. As opponents’ sensational stories focused on Ginsburg’s health, activists might have gotten his Senators Republican Party … on the record promising not to fill the seat until after voters have had a say in November’s presidential election.” GINNI THOMAS SAYS SHE CAN’T MEET JAN. 6 COMMITTEE FOR THE CLEARANCE OF DISORDER Protesters gather outside the Supreme Court building in Washington after Roe v. Wade was overturned. (Joshua Comins, Fox News Digital) Schaffer then slammed Totenberg for her somewhat beloved portrayals of DC’s powerful friends, writing, “As the pages go by, and Totenberg and her friends become more powerful, the theme becomes more and more uncomfortable—and more and more more revealing”. He added, “It’s not that Totenberg bashes the insiders who come to her dinner parties… Rather, it’s the way she seems to accept and share the worldviews of her famous friends. In this universe, it seems, we’re all on the same team.” Shaffer noted that she was friendly with other justices on the Supreme Court, including conservatives. He wrote: “Look no further than Totenberg’s table, where people like Nino Scalia (“a mensch”), Stephen Breyer (he and his wife helped clean up after an I Love Lucy-style dishwasher disaster ).’ He suggested that Totenberg was caught up in the “reverence” to which “the court is particularly prone” because of its “strange priestly culture”. Politico Editor-in-Chief Michael Shaffer blasted NPR reporter Nina Tottenberg for not warning the world about Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s illness that led to her death.
Exposing his bias, Shafer added, “I’m not saying Totenberg should treat the judges as if they were aggressive members of the political machine of the Palookaville chamber. But it would be nice if she kept the possibility open.” Outlining his overall review, he said: “Even if you don’t think any scare report about Ginsburg’s health could prevent Mitch McConnell in 2020, it’s hard to come away from this book and not think the bonds cost her something. — and so do we.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP He then concluded his review by questioning the benefit of Totenberg’s friendships, writing:Dinners with Ruth It left me wondering if it would have been better if Nina Totenberg had gotten a dog.” Gabriel Hays is a contributing editor at Fox News. Follow him on Twitter at @gabrieljhays.