The final arbiter

The foremost strict constructionist to sit on the Supreme Court in the last half-century passes away, and the Republican leadership and every one of the Republicans ostensibly qualified to seek the presidency vows to flout the Constitution and prevent the decision of the 126 million American citizens who voted in our last presidential election, and most particularly the 66 million citizens who determined that Barack Obama, in accordance with the specific directives of that constitution has the right and responsibility to, in a timely manner, nominate a replacement for him.

Republicans in Congress have deigned to throw the Constitution in the trash and denigrate its very purpose, to guarantee a government which will serve and protect our citizens; by attempting to shut down the functions of that government at their whim several times in recent years. But this "trumps" it all.

Whatever our position on gun control, abortion, equal rights, affirmative action, etc., this constitution, which we claim to embrace, clearly states these important and contentious issues will be determined by the Supreme Court as final arbiter. Senate Republicans do not have the right to usurp or deflect that responsibility by denying the court full membership for up to two years so that it will not be able to make timely determinations on these issues of obvious national import to collectively, almost every citizen of this democracy.

If we do not choose to follow this constitution, we have no constitution and we have no democracy.

JIM W. MARTIN, Perry County Democratic

Party chairman, Perryville, Missouri