James Carignan’s column on May 29 was titled a “bad wind blows.” I think that the Bard would have said that it is “much sound and fury signifying nothing.” The writer makes ridiculous assertions.

He claims, for example, that “the Bush administration is seeking nothing less than reversing more than 60 years of our common history.” Talk about hyperbole.

He then falsely claimed that the nuclear option would silence the minority and end more than 200 years of Senate practice. The unlimited debate in the U.S. Senate would not have been ended. The filibuster would have been restricted and not allowed on judicial nominations. It is the Democrats who have broken many years of senatorial courtesy, which had, in the past, limited the use of the filibuster on judicial nominees.

One example will suffice. Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a senior executive with the American Civil Liberties Union prior to being nominated to the Supreme Court. Her judicial philosophy was understood to be liberal. But she was confirmed to the Supreme Court with only three dissenting Republican votes. The understanding was that regardless of her philosophy, the Democratic president who nominated her was entitled to a full Senate up-or-down vote. As long as she was legally qualified and had no moral or ethical problems, the courtesy was extended. The vote of the full Senate was taken.

Those courtesies are indeed now gone. It certainly is a “bad wind,” but not from the Republican side.

Harvey Lord, South Paris