To the Editor:

Democrats might well consider that you can’t justify your actions based on the idea that, “we are only doing what the Republicans did.” The Republicans were absolutely wrong in refusing to hold hearings and confirm President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee. He was qualified, and no one could point to anything that disqualified him. 

It appears this is the same for President Trump’s nominee. Attend the hearings, and unless something in his past disqualifies him, confirm him. The fact he is conservative is not a disqualification any more than one’s being a liberal disqualifies him or her.

Republicans, on the other hand, might well consider abandoning the philosophy of “might makes right.” Neither your party nor anyone else has a monopoly on good ideas. The best ideas come from gathering facts and seeking other views. An open mind produces better ideas than a closed one, and opposite views can disclose weaknesses in anyone’s ideas. Just because one has the power to do what they want doesn’t make what they do right. Otherwise, we would seek a dictatorship and not democracy.

Remember it was a child who stated the obvious, “The Emperor has no clothes,” when everyone else ignored the obvious. Both parties put forth periodic bad ideas. Speak up, act like you can think, show some courage, and don't hide behind the cloak of the party.

Finally, examples of bad ideas from both sides of the aisle are easily illustrated. Our poor and lower class is expanding. That is bad for the country. Many Democratic Party government social programs have not achieved what they set out to accomplish. So don’t just throw more money at them. 

For Republicans, the poor haven’t chosen their lot. Poor people aren’t lazy, they need assistance — the question becomes what will “assist” (not rescue) them the most. As Lyndon Johnson once said, “You can’t chain a man for 100 years, and then lead him to the starting line of a race expecting him to compete with everyone else.”

Every snowflake in an avalanche pleads not guilty. I need to change the two square feet I occupy, both in thought and action. I need to remember I can make a difference.

Steven E. Philo

Franklin