Story highlights Ruth Bader Ginsburg gave a talk at Stanford Law where she also very briefly touched on politics

The Supreme Court justice also said she'd like to change the Electoral College

(CNN) As Washington prepares for the contentious hearings of Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch, a wistful Ruth Bader Ginsburg lamented Monday night on how the confirmation process has changed, recalling that one Republican senator who supported her back in 1993 "today wouldn't touch me with a ten-foot pole".

The 83-year-old justice allowed that while she is still friends with the senator, Orrin Hatch of Utah, the confirmation process has degraded.

"I wish there were a way I could wave a magic wand and put it back when people were respectful of each other and the Congress was working for the good of the country and not just along party lines," Ginsburg said.

"Someday there will be great people," she said, "great elected representatives who will say 'enough of this nonsense, let's be the kind of legislature the United States should have.' I hope that day will come when I'm still alive. "

The comments came during a talk at Stanford Law where Ginsburg also -- very briefly — touched on politics.

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