George,

We hear an awful lot these days about "original intent"; what did the "framers" really mean? Well, Dick Howard wrote the Virginjia constitution so I feel pretty safe in saying that he's right: an easement would be the wrong, that is to say, the unconstitutional way of getting around the constitution's supermajority requirement. I'd feel a lot better if our good friends and fellow Democrats Blake and Meredith would now abandon what seems to be an unconstitutional route to the Parkway.

Paul Gaston (electronic mail, December 11, 2003)