THE STANDARDS FOR PUBLIC SERVICE HAVE GONE TO POT / THE WALL STREET JOURNAL OP EDITORIAL

The Standards for Public Service Have Gone to Pot

Once a bit of marijuana smoke was enough to scuttle an appointment. How far we’ve come.

By Joseph Epstein

Douglas Ginsburg speaking at the White House in Washington, 1987. Photo: Associated Press

How many people recall the name Douglas Ginsburg? 

In 1987, Judge Ginsburg, then 41, was nominated by Ronald Reagan for a seat on the Supreme Court but withdrew from consideration soon after it emerged that he had smoked marijuana as a college student and professor. 

Judge Ginsburg retained his seat as a judge on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, where he continued to serve with distinction and is still a senior judge. 

He has also taught at various law schools. 

But the Supreme Court was never to be on his résumé because of this long-ago vice, which is no longer considered one.

Had Judge Ginsburg served on the Supreme Court, Ruth Bader Ginsburg (no relation) couldn’t have done so, and feminists would have been deprived of one of their idols. 

Although there had long been what became known as a Jewish seat on the Supreme Court—occupied by such distinguished jurists as Louis Brandeis, Benjamin Cardozo, Felix Frankfurter and others—there could never have been two Ginsburgs on the Supreme Court at the same time, lest the court seem like a family business.

One can’t but wonder what Judge Ginsburg, now 78 and white-haired, thinks about some of the people recently picked for cabinet posts in the Trump administration, whose vices and accusations of flat-out crimes make his smoking marijuana look as minor as burping in public. 

One thinks of Matt Gaetz, who, before dropping out as the nominee for attorney general, was accused of statutory rape, sex trafficking, using drugs, and taking bribes; or of Pete Hegseth, accused of sexual assault; or of Tulsi Gabbard, thought to have unseemly connections with and sympathy for foreign bad guys. 

(Messrs. Gaetz and Hegseth deny the accusations.)

At the presidential level, let’s not forget Bill Clinton, who rewrote the job description for female White House interns. 

Or Joe Biden, “The Big Guy,” who leveraged his political influence while vice president to enrich his family and who himself somehow ended up with three houses and a fleet of expensive automobiles all, mirabile dictu, on a relatively modest public salary.

The two George Bushes and Barack Obama, though less than inspiring in their presidential accomplishments, at least steered clear of personal scandal. 

Mr. Trump, now twice elected president, has more than made up for his predecessors on the scandal front, having been accused of sexual harassment and assault by numerous women since the 1970s. 

In one case, a civil jury found Mr. Trump liable for committing sexual abuse. 

Judge Ginsburg must think: We’ve come a long way, baby.

What does it say about our society that many people now holding or seeking high public office have been accused of or have actually committed crimes? 

Does it speak to an increased tolerance on the part of the country generally? 

Does it present examples of a Christian-like forgiveness for past errors? 

Or does it instead show a radical slackening of expectations and standards in our politicians?

In the weeks ahead, the Senate will interrogate Mr. Trump’s nominees for cabinet posts. 

The senators will be looking for inadequacies and hidden vices. 

Nowadays, who knows? 

I can hear the righteous senators grilling the prospective cabinet officers: “When you said this, did you really mean that?”; “How do you expect to determine that, when this is clearly the case?” 

Sanctimony, as always in such sessions, will ride high. 

All the standard cant words will be brought out. 

Transparency will be demanded.

Shouldn’t someone interrogate the interrogators? 

I, for one, would like to see a listing of the net worth of senators who have served more than two terms and representatives who have served more than five. 

When I look back on the senators of fairly recent decades, I can think of only one of whose utter honesty I feel confident: Paul Simon, the bow-tied Democrat of Illinois who served in the House, 1975-85, and the Senate 1985-97. 

When he was done, not being a lawyer, he returned to teaching journalism at Southern Illinois University.

It’s too late now to get Judge Ginsburg on the Supreme Court, even though the other Ginsburg has departed. 

Yet I can’t help feel that he was badly treated by history, having been nominated at a time when smoking marijuana was considered a disqualifying offense. 

Today just about anything short of cannibalism can land one in the presidency.

Mr. Epstein is author, most recently, of “Never Say You’ve Had a Lucky Life.”