To the editor:

I am writing you as a citizen of the United States and a resident of Kansas.

I am deeply concerned that there is going to be an effort to do away with the right to filibuster with the goal of more easily appointing judges who are more likely to support those views of President Bush and Vice President Cheney. My concern is that the right to filibuster was designed to protect minorities from the absolute rule of the majority. The loss of the filibuster would threaten our tripartite government, specifically designed to protect diversity of thought and philosophy, which has traditionally been represented through the separate entities of Congress, the judiciary and the presidency. Loss of the filibuster would create a leaning toward a philosophical merger of the judiciary and the presidency. This is of particular concern now as the Congress is already strongly conservative Republican.

I urge readers to defend the right to filibuster so that the minority can continue to have some last-ditch power to keep the judiciary diverse.

Ellie LeCompte,

Lawrence