Apparently intoxicated by the adulation coming her way of late, as progressives desperately want her not to retire, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg skates close to political advocacy, which should be taboo for a Supreme Court justice.  Last night, she offered a new excuse for Hillary Clinton's failure to win what most journalists and politicians believed was a slam-dunk presidential race.

Jacqueline Thomsen reports in The Hill:

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said she thought it was difficult for Hillary Clinton to "get by the macho atmosphere" dominating the 2016 presidential election.

This represents an escalation from her earlier charges that "sexism" played a major role in the election, as she did last September:

CNN's Poppy Harlow asked Ginsburg at an event at Columbia University Sunday to clarify her comments last year that sexism was a "major factor" in the election.

"I think it was difficult for Hillary Clinton to get by the macho atmosphere prevailing during that campaign, and she was criticized in a way I think no men would have been criticized," Ginsburg said.

Here is Justice Ginsburg last September, blaming sexism alone for Hillary's loss:

"Sexism" implies that the voting public is at fault, and perhaps that a female candidacy is hopeless.  When she blames a "macho atmosphere," the focus becomes the behavior of the manly Donald Trump.  She seems to think both sexism and a macho atmosphere were at work:

"I think anyone who watched that campaign unfold would answer the same way I did, yes that sexism played a prominent part," she continued.

Harlow then asked the justice if the U.S. wasn't ready for a female president.

"I think we were and will be the next time," Ginsburg said.

Justice Ginsburg seems unaware that she has contradicted herself here.  If the country was ready for a female president in 2016, why did a vague "macho atmosphere" matter?  What specific characteristics of that "macho atmosphere" hindered Hillary?  Was it the fact that she was criticized by the man running against her?  We were assured at the time that her opponent, Donald Trump, was quite unacceptable in his behavior, and that it would lead to his defeat.

Here is a video of the entire hour-and-a-half presentation:

Justice Ginsburg already has been forced to apologize for her comments during the campaign:

In July, Ginsburg said that she despaired for the country if Trump were elected, and she described him as egotistical, inconsistent and a "faker."

She faulted Trump for saying "whatever comes into his head at the moment," but then acknowledged that she too had spoken without thinking about the consequences.

Many legal commentators said it was unprecedented for a justice of the high court to speak out against a political candidate during an election year.

Responding to harsh criticism from Trump and many others, Ginsburg issued an extraordinary apology, saying she regretted her "ill-advised" comments.

"Judges should avoid commenting on a candidate for public office.  In the future I will be more circumspect," she said in a statement issued by the court.

I think it is fair to say that Trump Derangement Syndrome has reached the highest court in the land.  That is dangerous, and a reason why Justice Ginsburg should retire and preserve what remains of her dignity as a disinterested jurist.