My Wisconsin friend's letter to the editor. "McConnell insincere on court pick" -- Neil Diboll

http://host.madison.com/wsj/opinion/mailbag/mcconnell-insincere-on-court-pick----neil-diboll/article_18a642e9-7a2c-54f1-af3a-dfabc523adbe.html


McConnell insincere on court pick -- Neil Diboll

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell took the unprecedented step of blocking President Barack Obama’s moderate Supreme Court nominee, Merrick Garland, to replace Justice Antonin Scalia.

At the time, McConnell stated, “The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court justice.” Apparently McConnell was under the impression that Barack Obama was not elected by Americans, or at least not by “McConnell’s America.”

Sen. McConnell is now leading the charge to confirm Neil Gorsuch as the next Supreme Court justice. But Sen. McConnell’s reasoning has a flaw. President Donald Trump was “elected” by a minority of only 46.1 percent of the voters. Hillary Clinton received nearly 2.9 million more votes than Trump. The new president was, in effect, appointed by the Electoral College, which perversely does not rely on a majority of voters to determine the winner of a presidential contest.

The selection of the president and his Supreme Court nominee was brought about by a minority, and is not the true voice of the American people. Applying the “McConnell Doctrine,” President Trump should be disqualified from making any Supreme Court nominations during his entire term.

Unfortunately, Sen. McConnell prefers a selective interpretation of his own at the expense of the American people, whose voice he supposedly values so highly.

Neil Diboll, Cambria