Teribus:
In the United States, when a Senator resigns or dies in office, the usual procedure is that the Governor appoints a new Senator to fill out the remainder of his/her term, which may be 2-4 years. I believe there may be states where things are done differently, but so far as I know that's almost universal. In 2001, South Dakota had a Republican Governor, William Janklow, who would probably have appointed a Republican in Dashle's place had he died. Vermont had a Democratic Governor, Howard Dean, who would probably have appointed a Democrat to replace Leahy.

I am not necessarily proposing a conspiracy theory. I am just disturbed by the juxtaposition of facts here. A conspiracy would require agreement by several persons to commit a crime. The fact that someone attempted to kill two Senators immediately after the balance in the Senate shifted suggests that the attempt was politically motivated. It does not necessarily suggest that more than one person was involved.   Anti-abortion groups in the United States frequently mail out false anthrax powder for purposes of intimidation. The fact that highly sophisticated biological weapons were used does not prove a conspiracy. But it is troubling, because very few people have access to highly sophisticated weapons of that kind. And the fact that the police do not investigate energetically does not prove anything. But put together with those other facts, it looks funny.

On the other hand, people immediately jumped to the conclusion that if somebody was mailing out anthrax spores, it had to be Saadam Hussein, or Al Quaeda, or some Arab. Why? Why would Arabs choose these particular guys as targets?