Dems not overreaching, GOP is

David Haynes talks about the Democrats overreaching, again (“Dems get it wrong on Gorsuch,” Feb. 10).

Let’s talk about overreach. Act 10. Act 43. The current executive order on travel restrictions. All Republican creations.

Why is it that Haynes expects the Democrats to do the “right” thing? President Donald Trump could have done the “right” thing by renominating Merrick Garland, an olive branch to unify the country. But that is as likely to happen as my state Rep. Robin Vos redrawing the political maps.

But let’s talk about the Supreme Court. Conservatives seem to think that the Antonin Scalia seat is like a seat on the stock exchange which belongs to them and must be filled by a Scalia-like conservative. What if Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away tomorrow? Would progressives feel the same way about her seat and insist that we wait to fill her seat when a Democrat is again in the White House? Of course not.

We have elections with winners and losers. Obama won the national elections in both 2008 and 2012 and had every right to fill the Scalia seat with a judge of his choice. Garland was his choice, a judge as qualified or more as Judge Neil Gorsuch.

This is not about whether Gorsuch is qualified to sit on the court. It is about the “shameful and indefensible” actions of the conservatives. Make them do the “right” thing. Renominate Merrick Garland as a peace offering and show of good faith or come up with a more Kennedy-like nominee for consideration.

The overreaching conservatives are the ones Haynes should be addressing, not the Dems.

Timothy B. Daley Union Grove