The Venetoulis message: Don’t act like Democrats

Former Baltimore County Executive Ted Venetoulis lectures Republicans that they should be good little boys and girls (“Republicans, you must now become the ‘loyal opposition,’ ” Dec. 25). They should not obstruct for the sake of obstruction. They should be civil and willing to compromise while not opposing Joe Biden’s appointments for retaliation.

It’s bad enough that Republicans have to put up with instructions from a partisan Democrat. However, it is truly egregious that Mr. Venetoulis has a very short, selective memory. Republicans are supposed to forget that holdovers from the Barack Obama/Joe Biden administration leaked confidential telephone conversations that Donald Trump had with foreign leaders, thereby damaging foreign relations at the outset of his presidency. Democratic members of Congress boycotted Mr. Trump’s inauguration. A meritless Russia collusion conspiracy, fueled by cooked-up opposition research paid for by Hillary Clinton, was pursued by a special counsel for two years. An impeachment proceeding cooked up by Obama holdovers and House Democrats consumed six months.

. Trump appointments were slow walked for months leaving many agency positions unfilled. In summary, Democrats went to truly extraordinary lengths to attack and obstruct the Trump presidency at every opportunity. Despite having to endure this despicable conduct, Republicans must hold their noses and rise above it. They must seek common ground wherever possible and responsibly oppose the foolish schemes of extremists. In other words, don’t demean yourselves by acting like Democrats.