By Paul Galvin

This was not Hillary's idea, and it's not Hart's idea either, but I believe we the people should demand that Gary Hart be on Boston's first ever DNC stage and hold the key issue up to the lights ... or will Bush's fear and smear machine steal yet another one from the Dems and US? From the Hart-Rudman Commission pre-9/11 warnings that went unheeded to the recent 9/11 Commission findings, the timing seems perfect for Hart to be heard.

For the past quarter century this probable descendant of Ireland's ancient nobility and of maternal Irish (Sligo) ancestry has contributed to this great republic in many ways both great and small like his heroes for whom he volunteered as a youth, JFK and RFK. From his distinguished service as chairman of the US Senate's Three Mile Island nuclear investigation, 1979, to his prescient leadership on the Pre-9/11 US Security Commission, 2001, Senator Hart has earned our nation's gratitude and, above all, our attention to his perspective on the most recent 9/11 Commission Report. John Kerry knows this.

While Hart may best illuminate the president's role in the context both pre-9/11 and post-9/11 reports and was the first major figure outside Massachusetts to endorse Kerry (Sept. 2003) he has not been invited to speak at the DNC Convention on what the president has cited as this election's major issue: our national security.

Kerry acknowledged as much in recent public remarks.

Why is our Celtic hero, Gary Hart not on the DNC speaking schedule to give his first-hand account of what President Bush knew and when he knew it but who refused to take recommended preventive actions or even allow discussion of an immediate response plan of action prior to 9/11?

Among the current Democratic Party leadership, I believe only Gary Hart can credibly make this case on the Kerry's behalf to the nation. This is especially so with the post-9/11 Commission Report due this week. Gary Hart has the credibility of foresight on national security and documented actions prior to 9/11 to show the inaction and weakness of this president's alleged "strength" when it counted most.

We have Hart. If only John Kerry will bring him on!

Paul Galvin is a Branchfield Street resident.