LETTERS: SEN. CARNAHAN SHOWED HER TRU COLORS

To the editor:

I am writing to object, in the strongest possible terms, to Sen. Jean Carnahan's opposition vote on John Ashcroft's confirmation as attorney general. She announced that her vote was an act of conscience. I dispute that claim. I firmly believe that it was an act of politics, pure and simple, and politics of the sort that we neither need nor want in Washington.

Carnahan announced she believes "we should do all in our power to bring people together rather than drive them apart." She said her vote was a "plea for healing and harmony." Those statements are malarkey, and she knows that. Her constituents certainly do too.

When Carnahan cast her opposition vote, she allied herself not with her state, but with liberal members of her party, many of whom are most assuredly not admired here in the heartland. We are Missourians, and Carnahan indeed showed us her true colors.

REBECCA S. DUGAN

Charleston, Mo.