Sitting United States Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg recently received an honorary law degree from the University of Buffalo, along with a standing ovation.

A while back, Ginsburg unfurled a rhapsodic tribute to Judah P. Benjamin in a speech given at Loyola University in New Orleans.

As the first Jewish person to be elected to the U.S. Senate, Benjamin also acted as Attorney General, Secretary of War, and Secretary of State of the Confederacy. He has been described as "the brains of the Confederacy."

Benjamin was not simply a slave owner; he was a defender of slavery.

Issuing from an inborn and emotional tribal allegiance, Ginsburg's encomiastic Loyola remarks about this champion of slavery included:

1. "Judah Benjamin ranks first in time, and has captured my imagination."

2. "Benjamin is perhaps best known for his stirring orations in the United States Senate . . ."

3. Leaving America after the Civil War, Benjamin had a "remarkable legal career" in England.

4. In England, "Benjamin passed the remainder of his days as a top earning, highly esteemed, mainly appellate advocate."

5. And references to Benjamin's "indomitable cast of mind."

In all of her lengthy praise and with the benefit of 20-20 hindsight -- some 150 years of separation from the Civil War -- there's no mention, reference, nor denunciation whatsoever regarding brother Judah's active practice and advocacy of the institution of slavery by current Supreme Court Justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Amid this deafening and disturbing silence, a sanctioning of slavery seems to be at hand.

No standing ovation here.