Vermont’s two longtime senators, in my view, are the best of the lot. Patrick Leahy exudes integrity. Bernie Sanders is, well, Bernie, a man of the people, a true believer, a good socialist.

It was 1974 when I taught American Politics at Hartford High School in White River Jct., Vermont, when Patrick Leahy first ran for the U.S. Senate.

My students and I counted the Senate ballots on election night. We guessed early on that Leahy had won, the first Democratic senator ever elected from Vermont, now the longest-serving U.S. senator.

Leahy is not a grandstander. He’s a true Vermonter. His word is sacrosanct.

All those years prior to the rise of Rudi Giuliani with his make-believe lawyer shenanigans, when contracts were often sealed by a handshake in New England towns,  Leahy learned integrity.

If he says Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh lied under oath, you can take it to the bank.

Susan Collins is mixed up. Staying in the Senate may be sacrosanct to her, but at what cost?

Mainers are tired of her concern, her reservations. Oh she voted against tearing down the Affordable Care Act, only when it became the safe maneuver within her party.

Sen. Collins: We’ve got the picture. You’re wobbling on the fence prior to the Kavanaugh vote.

Susan Collins, you’re about to land on your ass. Save yourself. Rush next door to your Vermont neighbor’s office. Now.