Thanks for your elegant history lesson, Mark. One always comes away from your columns with a gem or two of wisdom and new or previously overlooked information. Regarding the appointment of Mr. Kirk--it was a brilliant thing to do and if the Repubs think it isn't fair, well they should remember good old Jimmy Carter's famous observation that life just isn't fair. Of course the Repubs know that better than everyone else and sure appear lately like they want to keep it that way. Time for the Dems to emulate the Repubs by playing mean, and to distinguish themselves from the Repubs by displaying some competence.

Thank you for the fine introduction to Mr. Kirk. In many ways, I am enthusiastic about the 60th Democrat in the Senate. I believe he will be a superior choice. However, I fear we may be justifying a breach of character by its favorable outcome. Had the appointment been a right-wing extremist, we all would be screaming "foul play!" And we would be right. I believe Massachusetts should have played by their own rules and waited for the election as had been mandated when it was a Republican governor. Judging process by results is what the Bush Administration wanted to do so often. We must be true to our own standards or we are no better than those we condemn.

Sir;... God love you, and you are a good man, but you miss the entire point of a democracy...The object of democracy is not to build up chiefs that we cannot live without, but to find people with the honor to execute the will of the people, or resign... In our sham democracy all our districts are under represented, and so divided that only the leaders have real power... What shall the leader do??? If he votes with the minority, or votes with the majority, or follows the course money charts for him, he has cover...He may not forever be able to deny the will of the people, or their needs; but he can water down legislation, or not fund what he has voted for, or put its implimentation off for another day... The big money bets on no improvement of our general condition, and money always win...You sing in lamentation of the lost chief... We should have democracy... Look about you...In this land that makes a myth of the individual everyone follows the fashion of the day...Everyone talks the language of the day, and buys off the shelf...We praise the individual, and hate his guts... Who among us can be free enough to follow his own will, or do as he pleases??? Only the wealthy, and politicians are free...We can only direct the course of our government by the most indirect and inefficient means...In olden days the chief was nothing without his men, and he knew it, and kept a close touch upon their pulse...So long as chiefs like Caesar, and Napoleon, and hitler gave their people victory their positions were secure...When their stars faded they departed from the pages of life, and into history....And they left their lands destroyed, and fought over, and empoverished...If we were a democracy the chiefs such as we have would defer always to the will of the people... They would not divide their population so they could have personal wealth and privilage, but would seek unity so their whole people could have strength and survival... These people who divide us, your stock and trade, our politicians -are traitors to this people and to humanity... We have unity at a great price and it has been cashed in...Is it not one clearly stated goal of our constitution, and justly so??? These chiefs of ours have made the world hate us, and then divided us in the presence of the enemy... Where is the consensus and the seeking after consensus that is the mark of every successful democracy???. Consensus has been given up to have chiefs... We need the whole population to have the courage of a brave individual, and with the will to act as they see best... We cannot count on our chiefs, at long distance and with short money to make us virtuous or give us strength... If we are individuals really, then we should have the courage to act without chiefs or leaders or the support or consent of our neighbors... If the chiefs have wrecked our democracy then we should make our anarchy universal...Let us all take freedom and act freely until society decides it must organize again for justice, general welfare, liberty, tranquility, defense, and unity... Chiefs are the enemies of democracy no matter how much they ride the public will... Every person should be their own chief, and entirely in touch with their own political power... We should not give it to others, but only the authority to act as we would act, and then demand such action...The people must govern to have democracy...Thanks...Sweeney