Re: “Democrats see little chance of blocking Kavanaugh’s confirmation to Supreme Court” (Aug. 10):

Please stop running news stories that call Sen. Susan Collins a “moderate” who is “independent-minded.” She is now another political hack, on board with the Republican railroading of President Trump’s Supreme Court pick.

She blandly pretends it’s normal to give this corrupt, possibly criminal president a legacy of not just one, but two lifetime appointees to the Supreme Court. She won’t recognize the fact that this president is effectively an unindicted co-conspirator in a criminal case and is under investigation in other cases that may lead to criminal charges. She pretends it’s irrelevant that any legal appeal regarding possible charges originating with these investigations could end up in front of the Supreme Court.

Trump is (as his anonymous staffer writes) “amoral … impetuous, adversarial (and) petty,” with “no first principles,” but he’s crafty. He may well have chosen Brett Kavanaugh because Kavanaugh has signaled that a president is above the law. Helping a criminal choose his judge is not normal. These are not normal times.

I don’t believe Collins is acting in good faith. Collins often takes the pose that she has to consider every angle before making a decision, yet she doesn’t have the integrity to insist that her colleagues wait until this problem has at least been thoroughly acknowledged and discussed or to insist that all possible information be provided to the Judiciary Committee. She and her party are rushing this through because they are afraid democracy will take its course and the Democrats will have a majority after the midterms. In other words, the Republican Party, with Collins firmly in lockstep, is deliberately undermining our democracy.

History is not on the side of today’s Republican Party. Many are still waiting for Collins’ Margaret Chase Smith moment, but I, for one, am not holding my breath.

Deborah Paley

Portland