Behind The Black Robe: Ruth Bader Ginsburg On Wine, Abortion, And (Your) Tattoos

MSNBC ran a great big long interview with Ruth Bader Ginsburg Monday night, and she was as wonderful as ever. Irin Carmon talked to her for a good long while, and we learned that Ginsburg is not especially crazy about the current dysfunctional Congress, is reasonably sure that Roe v Wade will stand (though she makes no firm predictions), and is obviously delighted by her status as a nerd icon -- but despite being pleased by the "Notorious RBG" stuff, is puzzled that anyone would get her face tattooed on their arm. T-shirts, sure, but a tattoo strikes her as a bit much. Here are a whole bunch of clips from the Rachel Maddow Show and a couple from Lawrence O'Donnell. At some point, MSNBC really should just put the whole uninterrupted interview up online, please. For now, we have the clips and Irin Carmon's write-up of the interview.

And a bit more on that wine with dinner the night of the State of the Union address: It wasn't just the wine, but more that she had been up all night the night before writing, and didn't go to sleep because "my pen was hot." Also, the meal was excellent, and it needed to be complemented with a good wine:

Besides, Justice Kennedy brought the wine, and he really should have nudged her to stay awake.

Finally, a couple of snippets from The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell, in which we learn Ginsburg's secrets for a happy marriage, and also that reporters better not call her "frail" -- she does 20 pushups a day. Don't feel too bad if you can't keep up -- she admits she takes a little breather after the first ten.

And could we just say once more: Give us the full interview, MSNBC! We can handle a 20-minute interview, we really can!