Gerry Studds

Massachusetts Congressman Studds is leaving the House after 26 years. Voluntarily. (He won with 69% of the vote the last time out.)

His farewell non-fundraising letter contained much that was wise and classy (or maybe it was just such a joy to get a letter from a politician that didn’t ask for money), but I liked this best:

“If working with six Presidents has taught me anything about leadership, it is that the world is not divided into good and bad. Human nature is not that simple.

“We all have the capacity for insecurity, prejudice and fear. It is to the darker side that the demagogue plays.

“Each of us can also evince strength, tolerance and compassion, and it is on these ‘better angels of our nature’ that the leader calls.”

If any of you happens to have Jesse Helms’s e-mail address, could you forward this to him?

Tomorrow: Bright-Life Catalog