I applaud the sentiments of Rep. Richard Bradstreet of Vassalboro (“Mills should work with us,” June 7): Those in power should indeed solicit the input of members of the opposition who hold representative office in the Legislature. (Columnist Jim Fossel made a similar point in his own piece that day.)

But there’s an elephant in the room that undermines Bradstreet’s argument. He is a member of the party that (a) supports and enables a demonstrably unhinged occupant of the Oval Office who embodies none of Bradstreet’s fine principles and (b) whose leader in the U.S. Senate blocks that body’s consideration of most legislation passed by the House so that his and Bradstreet’s party can instead railroad a long queue of dubiously qualified candidates through onto the federal judiciary and agency executive posts. Where is their invitation to the other party to contribute to the national dialogue?

John Covell

Augusta