Last week’s wanton refusal by Iowa Senate Republicans to confirm Gene Meyer as the state’s new public safety commissioner amounts to little more than a political paroxysm.With a 40-year career in law enforcement, most of it with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, there is no question that Meyer is qualified to be the state’s top law enforcement officer. He also has the support of peace officers from the Iowa State Patrol down to county sheriff’s departments. Standing alongside Democratic Gov. Chet Culver in a news conference last week, state Rep. Clel Baudler, a retired state trooper and a Republican, called Meyer “a breath of fresh air.”

The 17 Republicans who voted against his confirmation should at least have the courage to offer specifics instead of hiding behind the vague excuse that Meyer is an “insider.” If there’s more to their reluctance to confirm his appointment, they should say so, instead of casting doubt on what by all accounts has been an illustrious career.

Paradoxically, being an “insider” also may be one of his greatest qualifications for the job. Baudler’s words at the news conference carry great weight: “For the 32 years that I have been a member of the State Patrol, we begged for a lawman to head the department and we begged for an insider to head the department, and we always got a lawyer,” he said.

Meyer knows how law enforcement works and possesses great insight into the turf battles that sometimes ensue due to the competitive nature of law enforcement agencies. Throughout his stellar career as a law enforcement officer and his tenure as mayor of West Des Moines, a position he stepped away from when Culver nominated him to head the Department of Public Safety, Meyer has proved himself to be a unifying force, bringing together people of disparate views and leaving each with the feeling of having won something.

Last week’s confirmation vote was wrong, for the wrong reasons. Senate Republicans should reconsider and make it right.