Greatest Democracy on Earth

Yesterday afternoon Sen. Tim Johnson was hospitalized apparently suffering symptoms of a stroke. He was in brain surgery into the early morning hours today. No physician or surgeon has been authorized to speak to the press about Johnson's condition or the procedure he underwent. No one from Johnson's office, including his taxpayer-paid press secretary, has offered any information since yesteray afternoon. So far, the whole process has been about as transparent as Fidel Castro's health crisis this past summer.

So control of the United States Senate now depends on the health of a single low-profile backbench senator. On a senator whose entire political career has been focused on the well-being of South Dakota, a state of less than 3/4 of a million people (in a country of 300 million). On a senator last elected with less than 170 thousand votes and only 524 more than his major opponent.

The butterfly effect may not determine the weather or any other large-scale system in the physical world, but clearly our politics rests on it.