Letter: Devotion to governance is missing today

Judy Woodruff, in a PBS NewsHour segment on Ketanji Brown Jackson's Supreme Court hearings, noted that three Republicans might support Jackson's nomination. Woodruff added that in today's climate, three Republican votes might be a landslide. Her observation drew a chuckle from the panelists, but made sense.

When the final 53-47 vote, including three Republicans, was announced, most Republicans left the Senate chambers in typical take-their-ball-and-go-home fashion. Before I could react, a nostalgic blip hearkened to Barry Goldwater, Howard Baker, Robert Dole, Lyndon Johnson, Edmond Muskie and Mike Mansfield: three Republican and three Democratic lawmakers from my formative years. I trusted their devotion to sound governance. Essentially, I wanted them to be good people regardless of ideology.

Johnson's legacy is tainted by Vietnam, but without him, when would we have passed the civil rights and voting rights acts?

By the time I could vote, I felt confident that they all had America's best interest at heart whether I supported them or not.

What a difference a generation makes. The safety net of decency that I took for granted has devolved to a laser-focused race to secure/steal the next election. We can no longer expect the candidate we voted against to honor loyal opposition voters.

"In your guts, you know he's nuts," the Democrats chanted about Barry Goldwater. Today, I wish we had more "nuts" like him.

Jim Newton

Itasca