Evidence that conservatives are winning ("slowly") the debate over the courts

According to the NY Times, former Justice O'Connor and Justice Ginsburg are making what appear to be pretty political speaches. Personally, while it means that the court will be seen as even more political, overall it is a good sign: those on the left or "middle" are finding it necessary to defend their position from conservative concerns:

This month, former Justice Sandra Day O'Connor told an audience at Georgetown University that a judiciary afraid to stand up to elected officials can lead to dictatorship. Last month, speaking in South Africa, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said that the courts were a safeguard "against oppressive government and stirred-up majorities."

Justice Ginsburg also revealed that she and Justice O'Connor, who retired in January, had been the targets of an Internet death threat over their practice of citing the decisions of foreign courts in their rulings. . . .

I could be wrong, but I assume that there wouldn't be this somewhat unusual desire to respond publicly unless they felt that the debate was moving against them.