Welcome to 201k.com - A Commonwealth Perspective.

In his term as Governor of the Commonwealth, Mitt Romney has kept busy. Early on he spared no effort chasing former Senate President William Bulger out of the presidency of the University of Massachusetts--the office from which Mr. Bulger had attracted vast sums and attention to the school.

Next Governor Romney weighed in on the gay marriage issue, suggesting that civil liberties guaranteed under the state constitution should instead go up for a popular vote.

Now, having amassed a war chest worthy of a 2008 presidential candidate, the governor has decided to give interviews in the national press opposing stem cell research.

All of which leads us to wonder: what ever happened to that "rolodex" Mr. Romney claimed he'd use to bring jobs to Massachusetts?

You remember Massachusetts, don't you? The place with all the biotech companies and universities staffed by people who vacation in Provincetown?

To the Editor:

It happened so quickly I could hardly believe my eyes, but the image of President Bush kissing Senator Joseph Lieberman at the conclusion of his State of the Union speech is seared in my mind like a chilling nightmare. In case you didn't see it, the President went out of his way to make a big deal of the moment by dramatically taking Lieberman's head in both hands and planting a big fat kiss on his cheek. For those of you familiar with crime-family films, the kiss was delivered in the same style that Tony Soprano might use with one of his "soldiers" who has just become a "made man". Or, on the other hand, it was also the sort of kiss delivered to someone who was about to get whacked, such as the one Michael Corleone planted on Fredo, in The Godfather.

In this case it's the Democratic party that's getting whacked because Senator Lieberman, who has become "Zell Miller lite" seems to back every decision made by Bush. It doesn't take much speculation to figure what part of Bush's anatomy Lieberman has been kissing. And this is the guy that Gore picked as his running mate! I always felt that was a wrong choice from the getgo. Of the many ingredients that contributed to the "perfect storm" which caused Gore to lose the close 2000 election, Joseph Lieberman's complete lack of national Democratic voter pulling power was one of them.

The kiss seemed completely out of character by Bush. Perhaps he was so overwhelmed with affection and gratitude because he already knew that Lieberman would be the only one of the six United States Senators in the tri-state area that would vote in favor of the appointment of Alberto Gonzales as Attorney General. Or was it payback for Lieberman's unnecessary and pathetic gushing tribute for Condeleezza Rice on the Senate floor when her in-the-bag nomination for Secretary of State was being discussed?

I can only hope that Lieberman switches over to the Republican side soon enough to make room for a real Democrat to win his seat. Or better yet, perhaps a more appealing real Democratic will realize that Lieberman is vulnerable and beat him out him for the party's nomination. Worst case scenario would be if he won re-election and then made the switch.

Richard R.
Fairfield, CT