"Way back in the middle of the 2nd Obama term, I had a conversation with a college buddy, who is now a law professor at GWU and knew RBG.  I told him that given her age at the time (over 80) she should have retired then because the "slim" chance of a Trump victory could really mess up balance on the court for years.   I stand by that position.  It was almost a kind of selfish act on her part.   She might have taken a cue from Sandra Day O'Connor on this one."

You should realize this argument about RBG retiring does not work. Once McConnell had control of the Senate he was not going to allow Obama to appoint anybody to the Supreme Court. Also realize that during the Obama presidency, the 60 vote threshold for a Supreme Court nominee was still in place. McConnell removed that.  There would be no Senate conformation of anybody that Obama offered up. This was why when an opening came up Obama appointed Garland, he was someone the Republicans approved of, that was the chess move. Obama knew he could not get anybody through McConnell and so he chose a justice Republicans liked...and McConnell shut that down. 

So, it would not have mattered when RBG retired during an Obama presidency as long as McConnell had control of confirmation. McConnell is the "undertaker" his sole purpose with a Democrat sitting in the White House was to kill all appointments, kill Democratic legislation, and bring everything to a standstill. He literally broke the government. 

So, you can stand by that argument but, honestly, it makes no sense.