The Martin Luther King holiday has, at times, seemed to lose its relevance. Perhaps it is the passage of years or, more likely, the short attention span of Americans for whom Monday holidays are just another long weekend.

This year, though, a combination of timing and activism made Dr. King's birthday observance more momentous. It gave us pause to consider the path we are on as a nation seemingly resigned to wage war in a manner and scale that only an increasingly small percentage of us can recall first-hand.

In Washington last weekend, hundreds of thousands marched on the Mall, recalling in dimension and spirit the footsteps and words of Dr. King's followers four decades ago. It could not have come at a better time.

War with Iraq seems inevitable. Our president appears single-minded in his resolve to end the regime of Saddam Hussein by any means necessary. Congress is not likely to stand in his way and, in fact, has already afforded him the authority to at least begin a war.

It's become clear that our allies, with the exception of the United Kingdom, do not share our president's belief or resolve. In fact, they defy the United States openly and call on us to show restraint and to wait for the U.N. weapons inspectors to complete their difficult task.

We might expect a more reasonable response from President Bush, but instead we- and the world - have witnessed one empty platitude and snippy lecture after another from the Oval Office.

Upset by his allies' lack of support, this week the president said, "Surely our friends have learned lessons from the past." He then followed it with, "This looks like a rerun of a bad movie, and I'm not interested in watching."

In marked contrast stands our own senior senator from Massachusetts, who unlike his ambitious counterpart Mr. Kerry, has remained an independent voice of reason throughout the Iraq build-up. As the president was upbraiding our allies, and the world, Kennedy issued a call to the country to rise up and let our leaders know how we feel about the impending attack on Iraq.

"I continue to be convinced that this is the wrong war at the wrong time," Senator Kennedy said in a speech. "The threat from Iraq is not imminent, and it will distract America from the two more immediate threats to our security &emdash; the clear and present danger of terrorism and the crisis with North Korea."

President Bush deserves credit for rallying our nation after the shock of 9/11, a fact that Kennedy readily acknowledges. But the sabre-rattling unilateralism of the Bush administration in regards to Iraq is a wholly other matter and seems to have its motivation in passions that the president is unable to articulate.

This macabre march to war is all the more unsettling because it comes as our city and state enters what may be the worst financial crisis of the last 20 years. Instead of putting more police on the streets and prescriptions in the hands of the ill, we are mounting an all-out war against a country half a world away, based on a presumed threat that remains elusive at best.

We need leadership of a different kind in these times: seasoned, thoughtful and compassionate traits that seem woefully lacking in our sitting president at the moment. And, we might add, in the field of prospective replacements. Perhaps its time that we in Massachusetts call on the one person who seems to grasp the gravity of this situation in all of its complexity.

Can you say Ted Kennedy in 2004?

- Ed Forry

A Different Kind of Cold Call

City life being what it is today, it's not all the time that we take a moment to check in on our neighbors. We should all resolve to do it this week, though, especially if you know a neighbor who is elderly or infirmed.

Here's a few things you can do:

Ring your neighbors bell. Check and make sure they are doing all right and have adequate heat. Seniors and young children are especially at risk for illness and hypothermia at these temperatures.

If you're a property owner, make sure you comply with city rules on heating. All residential dwellings require heat at a minimum of 68ºF between 7:00 a.m. and 12 a.m. and 64ºF between the hours of 12:00 a.m. and 7:00 a.m.

Tenants who find that the heat isn't working properly should contact the property owner and/or manager to repair the problem. But if that doesn't work, tenants should immediately call the city's Inspectional Services Department at 617-635-5322 or during off-hours, the Mayor's 24-Hour Hotline at 617-635-4500. If you're place is cold, chances are other, more vulnerable people are suffering too. Make the call.

Until the mercury rises...