OPINION:
It was indeed sad to see that the debate in the Senate confirmation hearing of Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan deteriorated into a mere guessing game as to the final tally of votes rather than a debate on the nominee’s merits or demerits (“Kagan’s confirmation tally becomes Hill guessing game,” Politics, Tuesday).
Even more reprehensible is that once again, a high-court nominee was not vetted properly - by design. Like another Obama nominee, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Solicitor General Elena Kagan was allowed to spin her way to confirmation without a single Democratic senator daring to question her evasive answers to spirited but relevant questions asked by Republican lawmakers during her confirmation hearings.
One such question, posed by Utah Republican Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, concerned Ms. Kagan’s revision of the statement by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) regarding partial-birth abortion, shown in documents dating back to the Clinton administration. In the televised hearings, we saw Ms. Kagan saying untruthfully that the only dealings she had with ACOG was talking to doctors to ensure that the statement expressed their views. Nothing could be further from the truth.
As your newspaper reported, Ms. Kagan’s amendment altered the statement significantly. The pattern of deception Obama nominees use is clear and must not be allowed to continue in the future.
CARIN SALA
Washington
Please read our comment policy before commenting.