This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The Salt Lake Tribune published an op-ed piece by Sen. Orrin Hatch ("GOP-controlled Senate has delivered for Utah") worthy of Pravda in its best days — perhaps appropriate today.
Left unstated by Hatch is how many of the legislative "achievements" he cited actually made it into law.
And buried at the bottom of the piece was a reference to the opportunity to now fill the U.S. Supreme Court with "qualified justices who uphold the Constitution."
Among the many elements of spin in the piece, that last one is tough to swallow. Hatch's Republican Senate abdicated its constitutional duty to give a hearing to a known moderate and eminently-qualified candidate for the Supreme Court nominated by a twice-elected president nine months ago.
That was a hypocritical, politically duplicitous, morally shameful act of obstruction, and Hatch knows it. So much so that whoever ascends to the court now will be sitting in what will go down in history as the "stolen seat." The will of the people, indeed.
I can't deny that Hatch's views resonate with many Utahns.
But an objective review would reveal the Republican Senate majority has yet to articulate any credible plans for a better tomorrow, much less deliver on them, contrary to the rosy picture painted by Hatch's political Christmas message.
Brent A. Wright
Valencia, CA