I was left agape with incredulity by U.S. Rep. Erik Paulsen’s Aug. 25 commentary criticizing Minnesota’s U.S. senators for delaying Justice David Stras’ nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Paulsen complains that “[s]talling Stras’ nomination is the latest example of partisan game-playing in Washington” and urges Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken “to end their obstructionism and allow [the] nomination to proceed for a confirmation hearing and vote.”
If Paulsen believes this is the “latest” example, I anxiously await his upcoming op-ed piece excoriating the Republican Senate majority for the “greatest” example of partisan game-playing in Washington: the failure to hold a hearing or vote on Merrick Garland’s nomination to the Supreme Court. Garland is a judicial moderate (unlike Stras) and undeniably qualified.
Or maybe Paulsen will pen a paean to the Senate Democratic majority that confirmed 68 of President George W. Bush’s nominees in the last two years of his term and will decry the partisan game-playing and obstructionism of his Republican brethren in the Senate who confirmed only 22 of President Barack Obama’s nominees in the last two years of his term.
Given the time saved by avoiding face-to-face town hall meetings with his constituents, I trust that Paulsen should have ample time to draft these pieces. If he does, I will be left agape at the demonstration of his beloved bipartisanship.
Brad Engdahl, Golden Valley
Minneapolis Star Tribune, August 26, 2017