Dear Editor:
I just left a message for Senator Cory Gardner, as follows: Do you believe that being an elected official can be an honorable calling? Because it seems you are now faced with a litmus test. Will you abide by the rule that you and Mitch McConnell and other Senate Republicans put in place in 2016 stating that Supreme Court vacancies will not be filled in an election year, or will you show that it was all a lie?
Gardner’s actual words in 2016, when faced with the question of whether to give a hearing to President Obama’s nominee to fill a Supreme Court vacancy nine months before the election: “I think we’re too close to the election. The president who is elected in November should be the one who makes this decision.”
Assuming Gardner is motivated by self-interest only, he now must consider whether he will increase his reelection chances more by pandering to his right-wing base or appealing to more moderate voters by refusing to make himself a liar on the Supreme Court vacancy issue.
In regard to the Supreme Court, the right-wing base is primarily motivated by an obsession with the abortion issue. They seem to truly believe that if Roe v. Wade is reversed, their crusade will be won! No more abortions! They might want to do a reality check with the people of Ireland (a heavily Catholic country) who voted overwhelmingly to legalize abortion two years ago.
If Mitch McConnell is allowed to ram through Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, there is a good chance that the abortion wars will get worse, the partisan political divide will get worse, wealth inequality will get worse, health care coverage will get worse, and Americans’ disgust with the government will get worse. After all, Trump is the president who Makes Everything Worse.
Cory Gardner has shown himself to be one of Trump’s most reliable enablers. I’d love to see him change his stripes now, but won’t hold my breath.
Anne Marie Holen
Salida
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