Speculation is running wild here in Massachusetts over who will run to replace current U.S. senator John Kerry once his nomination to become U.S. secretary of state is approved without protest by the good ole boys club in the Senate. Names bandied about concerning potential candidates have included the ridiculous (Connecticut resident Ted Kennedy, Jr.), the more ridiculous (actor Ben Affleck), the oily (congressman-for-life Edward Markey), and the recently dismissed (Scott Brown, scalped by Chief Spreading Bull in November). Like almost everything else in America, the United States Senate has long been unmoored from its original purpose and function. The framers designed the Senate to be a deliberative body comprised of two ambassadors from each of the several states, sent there by the legislatures of those states to give them a voice in the national government and to serve as a check on the executive and the potential tyranny of the majority. The 17th Amendment...(Read Full Post)