Subject: My Wellstone memory...
I heard about Paul about 1 hour before I left
work on Friday.
Where I work, it's full of highly paid union
workers...most of them however seem to
embrace their angry straight white male genes
judging from the comments about Paul.
I was numb and by the time I got to my car I just
fucking sobbed. The good guys don't seem
to be getting a goddamn break lately. Anyway,
I got home and had 36 glasses of wine and
went to bed at 7pm...LOL... I love indulging
my moods...
Here's my Paul and Sheila memory.....
One of the very coolest things about living in
Minnesota is our State Fair. It really is a magic thing.
Harkens back to simpler times....everything you
eat is "On a Stick" Including Macaroni and Cheese On a Stick
...a newcomer this year....my partner and I go
every year without fail. It's tradition...
This year, Paul and Sheila were going to be there
so we stood in line as I wanted to meet him and say thanks
....about 40 minutes later to our surprize and
pleasure we got to meet Sheila....she was a complete doll....working
the crowd brilliantly...everyone felt as if she
was hosting them at her home....I got to the front and was wearing a
button that said "Don't blame me...I voted
for the guy who got more votes" She howled....as did Paul...
I whispered to her something nasty about the
idiot chimpster and her comment was...
"You should try sitting through one of the
moron's speaches and smiling for an hour."
I was amazed that she felt so comfortable to
be so candid.
When I got to Paul I was a bit tongue tied so
I just said "thanks" and then added "You know you do great Paul,
a bit conservative for my blood (refering to
DOMA) but you're okay" Wellstone threw back his head and howled
....and screamed to the crowd..."Hey, there's
a guy up here bitching at me that I'm too conservative!"
It was priceless
I read your extra issue and balled all the way
through that....geez...
jeff
Anti-Wellstone mailing featured ''R.I.P'' tombstone
http://www.startribune.com/stories/1752/3391477.html
Excerpt:
"A piece of literature attacking Wellstone's
support of the estate tax, featuring a large tombstone
and the letters "R.I.P.," was mass-mailed
last week by a lobby group for small businesses.
The double-sided mailing from the National
Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) carries
an eerie illustration of a tilted tombstone
beside an open burial vault, illuminated by a full moon.
On the flip side, the mailing urges recipients
to "Tell Paul Wellstone His Votes are Killing You."
The copy also says, 'Paul Wellstone's taxes
can even reach you even in the grave.'"
Subject: thanks bc
...for your great Wellstone page.
You honored the guy and raised the question
others are afraid to.
If Wellstone was murdered, I think
it was because he voted
against Smirk, on Iraq AND then his
rating went up 15%.
It might give the pink tutus ideas if he
got away with that.
It's a huge loss
Annie
Subject: Paul Wellstone
I couldn’t post yesterday. In fact, I couldn’t
even bring myself to read or post at Bartcop,
or at DU, without crying. When I met a friend
for lunch at a Mexican restaurant, I began to
cry when the waitperson took my drink order.
I knew that sooner or later, someone might
wonder why I have not posted my thoughts about
the tragic loss of Senator Wellstone
—a beautiful, progressive mind who’s passing
will be felt for generations to come.
There are no true words that I can say. My anger
and sadness are just a continuation of the emotional
roller coaster ride that I have been on this
year. When one loses friends, and comes face to face with
Mr. Death all in the same year, there comes an
emotional fragileness that can't be explained.
I never met Paul Wellstone. I have met Debbie
Stabenow; a meeting I will never ever forget.
I watched Wellstone with great interest over
the years. He was a lone eagle sometimes, but he
was always true to himself. His passing has touched
me in ways that I cannot explain, because
sometimes I feel like a lone eagle myself.
Why?
Goddammit...why?
Why do the beautiful minds—Gandhi, Dr. King,
JFK, RFK, Malcolm X,
John Lennon, Paul Wellstone, etc.—leave us before
their time?
As I type this, I am watching the protest on CSPAN.
I sense that Mr. Wellstone is there in spirit,
with bells on.
I am there in spirit too, with bells on.
I now go to walk with a candidate that I care
about very much.
Maybe that will help heal my broken heart.
Mark "Mad Dog" Barringer
http://home.earthlink.net/~mdogdrum/index.html
The Senate loses a giant
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2353611.stm
Excerpt:
Principled to the very end, only this month
Wellstone voted against giving congressional approval
to President Bush to fight a war against
Iraq, even though he faced a tough re-election battle in
Minnesota. He was the only Democrat in
a tight race to do so. Not for him the politics of the
focus group or telephone poll.
Was Paul Wellstone Murdered?
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=14399
Excerpt:
In a senate that is one heartbeat away
from Republican control, Wellstone was more than just
another Democrat. He was often the lone
voice standing firm against the status-quo policies of both
the Democrats and the Republicans. As such,
he earned the special ire of the Bush administration and
the Republican Party, who made Wellstone's
defeat that party's number one priority this year.
Subject: Why Democrats are suspicous
This was posted by Mary Schumacher at Table
Talk.
I thought it was worth forwarding for the
way it explains why so many
of us are so worried and suspicious over
what happened to Paul Wellstone.
Here is the direct link to her post:
http://tabletalk.salon.com/webx?14@@.2cb829de/5066
Alan
From: RF
Bart, we have motive.
Big Time.
Subject: Wellstone knew where to trim the shrub-
http://www.tnr.com/docprint.mhtml?i=20021104&s=trb110402
Excerpt:
Pollster John Zogby (R-ForSale) released
a survey on September 22, three weeks before Wellstone
voted against authorizing unilateral force,
and another on October 13, two days after: In the interim,
Wellstone shot up 15 points. "The Iraq
debate has boomeranged," says Larry Jacobs, professor of
political science at the University of
Minnesota. "Far from providing unequivocal help to Republicans,
it's created a new problem that's bedeviling
Republicans, at least out in Minnesota." No one can
confidently predict what will happen at
the polls on November 5.
Subject: Feeling Minnesota: Rest in Peace, Paul Wellstone
Hi bartcop,
Just finished reading your Wellstone Tribute Page
from the weekend, and I'm so moved and
touched by your community of readers, and their
eloquent, and at times angry and accusative
(of which I'd count myself, sadly, in the latter),
memorials to the truly great and brave Paul Wellstone.
To the people of Minnesota, our fellow countrymen,
I say Bravo! Bravo for consistently having the
lucidity and bravery to vote your consciences.
As a political junkie, I've curiously watched your state's
election returns for a few decades now, and find
myself often thinking, "Wow, kinda wacko, sorta
out-there, unabashedly liberal," I've always
admired you and wished I'd been born and raised in a state
as honest as yours. I wish I lived in a
brotherhood, a community where people are not only unafraid to
buck conventional wisdom and trends, but are
in fact proud and downright boastful of their independence
and intelligence in choosing their leaders and
innovators. Bravo, Minnesota!
Thank you for Humphrey, Mondale, the Democratic-Farmer-Labor
Party, Wellstone, and yes, even Ventura.
You might just be the only state brave enough
to save us all.
In mourning for one of my last living heroes, Paul Wellstone,
Jennifer in Cincinnati, Ohio,
Subject: Wellstone Conspiracy
Hey Bart...
You've printed opinions stating that Senator
Wellstone was murdered by (fill in the blank).
That's all well and good, but I want to
know what YOU think.
That's why I read your stuff.
R. Adams
Battle Creek, MI
R, I'm that rarest of "pundits" who doesn't form an opinion until I gather some facts.
We know Bush would do it if he could.
We know he can do it since the CIA has worked for his
Daddy over 30 years ago.
But hell, we still don't know who killed JFK, RFK or MLK and
that was over 30 years ago.
The big question is -
Would evil men murder to take over the planet?
My guess is "yes."
Remembering
Paul Wellstone
A longtime staffer recalls how the Minnesota senator took
principled stands and cast principled votes -- and used them
to win.
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2002/10/29/wellstone/index.html
Excerpt:
Some have called Paul Wellstone the first
1960s radical elected to the Senate, but that misses the mark.
He was the first "justice organizer" elected
to the U.S. Senate. Instead of spending the '60s listening to
the Jefferson Airplane and hitchhiking
to Woodstock, Paul married his high school sweetheart and
attended the University of North Carolina.
He quit the UNC wrestling team after winning the Atlantic
Coast Conference championship because he
had to support Sheila and the first of their three children.
Paul was not a '60s radical, but a person
committed to family and justice.
