Mitch McConnell

Re “McConnell to cede top Senate role” (Feb 29). Sen. Mitch McConnell has been in Congress since 1985 and is the longest serving party leader in American history. He will step down in November, thank goodness.

His often-stated purpose was to block Democratic presidents’ initiatives.

In 2016, as Senate leader, he held up then-President Barack Obama’s nomination of Judge Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court for about a year, rationalizing that the ballot box is the ultimate decider.

However, in the late months of the 2020 presidential election, then-President Donald Trump’s nomination of Judge Amy Barrett moved rapidly during the final weeks of voting, bringing about the eventual selection of a third conservative judge. Hypocrisy at its best.

Having helped get approved numerous conservative judges to the federal bench, McConnell dramatically shaped the judicial system, manifesting a lasting effect on our jurisprudence system. This demonstrated a serious existential threat to our democracy, exemplified by recent epoch judicial decisions. His most egregious act was his designed inaction to muster his party’s support to convict the former president while dealing with two impeachment trials. Trump’s conviction could have prevented him from running for any office. If McConnell had held Trump accountable, that could have spared America from the political carnage emboldened by the former president and his MAGA-cult group over the past several years.

Had McConnell demonstrated courageous leadership in 2020-21, the country may have heard a repeat of Gerald Ford’s quote, “My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over.” What cowardly leadership.

— David N. Camaione, Virginia Beach