This ignores the fact that Garland would not have received the votes needed. But you’re right the republicans should have torn him apart for a couple weeks then voted no.
I don't know enough about Garland to agree or disagree with you, but I don't think it matters. SCOTUS justices are nominated/approved based on who sits in the WH and which party controls the Senate.
The ethical thing would have been not to consider Amy Coney Barrett's nomination until after the election. It also would have been the stupid thing to do. Not only would it risk not being able to stack the court in their favor, but the Republicans didn't know who was going to win the Presidential election or who was going to control the Senate in January. No one knew.
If the Republicans had won even one of the Georgia run-offs, we wouldn't be having this conversation. It was very close, but they lost both seats.
I'm not throwing shade on Republicans for doing what they did. The Garland/Barrett decisions were the smartest decisions for the party.
I'm just saying the crying about stacking the court is hypocritical.