‘We Fixate on a Flaw’
I take my hat off to Tavris. She presented many logical assumptions concerning the recent surge of “character evaluations” taking place in Washington. Tavris, rightly, contends that concentrating heavily on small errors of judgment made years ago cloud the realization of larger, more important “moral violations” which could have a greater impact on our society.
How refreshing it was to find that I am not alone in the belief that the current “seek and destroy” methods of evaluating political candidates in this nation could eventually lead to poor representation in government. The denigration and subsequent withdrawal of Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del.) and Ginsburg from their respective appointments is a clear example of such idiocy.
It is appalling how men as qualified as Biden and Ginsburg could be dismissed upon trivial mistakes made in the past. More frightening, yet, is that if this “nit-picking” continues, the American public may very well be denied qualified officials to govern them. Should we sacrifice “good” government to small errors that say nothing about the candidates’ ability or effectiveness?
JAMES M. REED
Redlands
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