Wellstone needed now more than ever

I really miss Sen. Paul Wellstone.

Yeah. The "stand up, keep fighting" senator from Minnesota who wasn't afraid to speak out for the little guy and gal. Who actually represented "we the people" and boldly stood up against corporate power.

I distinctly remember when I heard about his death, this month four years ago. It really hit me hard. He was one of the few politicians that actually seemed to have a heart, something sorely missing on Capitol Hill these days. Wellstone voted against the unjust and illegal Iraq war and was called a "chickensh*t" by Pres. George H.W. Bush. Vice President Dick Cheney hated Wellstone because he knew that this short Jewish professor from Northfield, Minn. would actually fight for what he believed in.

That's why I loved Wellstone so much and contributed to his campaign. Sure, he was a Democrat but then, he actually was more than that, much more than that. He was a people person who had a conscience and an everyday decency that seems as cornball as "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington."

Before it faded to where you could barely read it, I had a bumper sticker on my car that read: "What Would Wellstone Do?" Well, Wellstone wouldn't support torturing prisoners, or expanding evil wars or allow the big corporations to become bigger and bigger monopolies. Just think how different things might be if Wellstone's plane hadn't mysteriously crashed just a week or so before his inevitable re-election.

Yeah, former Gov. Jesse Ventura may say it was pilot error but I disagree. I'm on board with Prof. Jim Fetzer, a former prof at Univ. of Minnesota-Duluth, who concludes Wellstone's plane was taken down in order to silence his progressive and truthful voice. Too much was at stake, and the New World Order couldn't risk Wellstone meddling into their affairs.

And look where we are now in 2006. War, corruption, economic uncertainty, the shredding of the Bill of Rights ... yeah, we need a Wellstone, before it's too late.

By the way, read what guest columnist David Morris has to say about Wellstone in the (Minneapolis-St. Paul) Star Tribune.