I read with some interest a letter published a few weeks ago lauding Sen. Chris Coons' behavior during a key Senate vote where a member was unable to be present during a nomination vote. Although I agree with the specifics of the letter, upon closer inspection, Sen. Coons has a lot to answer for a history of partisan votes with a large helping of hypocrisy added in.
As I understand it, Sen. Coons was elected to represent all Delawareans, not just the minority of progressive Democrats whom he seems to always align with.
I could list many examples of this over the past several years, but the best example was his vote just recently on the confirmation of Gina Haspel as CIA director. Ms. Haspel had pretty much universal support from the intelligence community, as well as past Obama-appointees and many, many others. It was well known that post 9/11 Ms. Haspel was among many in the CIA that under orders, participated in interrogation of suspected terrorists. I'm not going to open that debate here; suffice it to say that Ms. Haspel had no part in the drafting of the policy.
That was 2004, and in 2018 she made it clear during her confirmation hearing that such techniques would not be permitted in the future under her watch. But wait, here comes our own Senator Coons voting against this highly qualified and acclaimed female nominee, citing what had happened 14 years ago as the basis for voting against her.
So I'm thinking the far-left loved his vote, citing his support of our "legal ideals." But wait, let's go back to March 2013 when John Brennan was up for nomination as CIA director. It turns out that not only was he also involved in the same post 9/11 interrogation process, he was much higher up in the food chain than Ms. Haspel.
So using the same standard of fairness and ethics he cited for voting against Ms. Haspel, I'm sure Sen. Coons voted against Mr. Brennan as well. Well wouldn't you know it, he voted for Mr. Brennan anyway! Seems that Sen. Coons' ethics are in fact conditional, based upon what party nominated the person.
So let me address Sen. Coons directly: You were elected to serve all of us here in Delaware, not just your left-wing base. By rejecting Gina Haspel as CIA director and marching in lock-step with your boss "Chucky" Schumer, you brought hypocrisy and disgrace to Delaware. Sen. Coons, we are your boss, not Chuck Schumer. As someone who has attained a high profile in the past few years with many media requests, it is even more imperative for you to put partisan politics aside and represent all Delawareans, not just your base. In this case (and many other times as well), you have chosen not to. Shame on you.
Brian D. Gillespie
Lewes
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