What a horrible, sad story. My thoughts are certainly with your state and the senator’s surviving family. To lose so many members in one day…it seems…unfathomable.
I’m not apologizing, so get over it. It’s the pit, remember? Again, I’m very saddened by his tragic death. Wish it never happened. But at the same time I cannot deny the fact he had been an avowed enemy of liberty. (O.K., my opinion, not “fact.” Whatever…). Yea, perhaps I’m being a little brash. Guess I’ll never learn…
Good advice. But if we all abided by that, the pit wouldn’t exist…
Crafter_Man, you are being a putz. Please stop.
Amazing.
Crafter_Man, it would’ve been so simple to leave your opinion of his politics out of this entirely, and simply offered condolences to his family. Would that really have been so difficult? Are you saying that to pay respects to a dead man without taking a swipe at him would somehow compromise your “ethics,” such as they are?
Do you really fail to comprehend the sheer insensitivity of your comment?
Crafter_Man, it’s bad enough to be a poor winner. It’s far worse to think of Senator Wellstone’s death as “winning” for your kind.
Several others have put you in your place nicely. Now go crawl back under your rock.
Well no. Even folks who post to the pit know that there is a time and place for political opinionating.
One hopes that you can realize that this is not such a time.
Crafter_Man as a libertarian, I did not agree with Mr. Wellstones beliefs. That said, there are these things called tact and respect. To behave as you do shows you have little regard for either.
As I earlier said, I disagree with Mr. Wellstones beliefs, but I have nothing but respect for the fact he stood by them. That takes integrity and self respect, and in this day and age, that is far to rare a resource. I grieve that we lost someone of that caliber.
I have no idea why Diogenes the Cynic posted this in the pit. 
That being said, I sympathize with his family and people close to him. I do not like to see anyone die, though we all must. As John Donne, said, ‘No man is an iisland; any man’s death diminishes me.’
RIP.
A) As a Republican, please allow me to disassociate myself from Crafter_Man’s abhorrant behavior. One of my most vivid memories is the loathing I felt while in college at a few cretins who cheered when it was announced that Reagan was shot. This sort of behavior is somehow even less attractive when coming from someone nominally on my side of the aisle.
B) While I disagreed with Senator Wellstone on nearly every issue, I respected the hell out of the fact that he stood by them, that he had the courage of his convictions (it took guts and honor to be the sole (or one of the two lone) votes against the recent war proposal. I thought his vote was wrong but I admired his courage in making it. There are far too few people like that in politics today.
Fenris
(On preview, what Narile said. )
As a libertarian myself, I think the greatest memory of Senator Wellstone will be standing up as the lone vote against the PATRIOT Act. We had a note up on the ACLU corkboard at the MU Law School within an hour. The ACLU President was depressed and despondant. He was a strong advocate of civil liberties, and we will feel his absence.
Now, I didn’t agree with the man on economic freedom, but that is besides the point. It is a rare man in Washington who will stand behind his ideology, and not play the “let’s see who can be more moderate” game. Anybody who has an ideology, a philosophy he believes in, and will vote unequivacoly in support of that philosophy…well, that’s a rare man, and one I admire.
Crafter_Man’s comments were unwarranted. The “if you can’t say anything nice” maxim should be followed, at the very least, in situations just like this. Another one I follow is “never speak ill of the dead.” Everyone has contributed something to this world in their own way, and I hate it when people declare themselves the arbitrers of the value of a human life (I applied the same standard and said the same thing when Eve was celebrating the death of a white supremacist, so I’m being consistent.)
The more I hear the sadder I get.
His daughter, a Spanish teacher in the Cities, leaves behind four kids and her husband.
Ya know what I’m going to miss most about the man? He wasn’t mean (unlike someone else in this thread). He passionately defended his beliefs but never EVER belittled others for theirs. Never engaged in personal attacks. Just did what he thought was best for our state and country, and damn the political consequences.
He was a better man than Crafter_Man will ever be.
I’m gratified that this thread has gotten a (mostly) positive reaction.
To answer Philo’s question, I posted it in the pit because I didn’t know where else to post it. None of the other boards really seemed “right” so I figured here was as good a place as any.
I’d like to remind Crafter that this “freedom-hater” was the only person who voted against the “Patriot’s Act.”
Even those people who vehemently disagreed with Wellstone liked him as a person.
He spent a lot of time in the community here in St. Paul and could often be seen jogging past the capitol, taking his grandkids to the Science Museum, or having coffee with his wife at Dunn Bros. He would talk to anybody who talked to him, and was extremely light-hearted even with people who disagreed with him.
He was that rarest of birds, a politician who wasn’t an asshole.
Not to speak ill of the dead, but that vote was cast by the senator from Wisconsin, Russ Feingold. Wellstone voted YEA.
I don’t think it is going out on a limb to point out what seemed to me a suspicious coincidence. I certainly meant no harm…quite the contrary. The thing, is, that even if it were true, we will never really know for sure.
I would also like to point out that it is not necessary to call someone an idiot in order to indicate that you disagree with him/her.
Don’t go there, monalisa9. The weather up at Eveleth this morning was foggy with icy rain. Way too early to speculate, obviously, but it won’t surprise me to find weather to be the cause.
A man of deep convictions, most of them wrong, but sincerely held.
But Monalisa9, let’s not start with the Clinton death list stuff again every time a politician dies.
The FBI is investigating the crash. If there is anything suspicious, we will know. There won’t be.
Regards,
Shodan
That’s your opinion, a lot of people thought his convictions were right.
Whether they are right or wrong, is a matter of perspective.
Senator Wellstone was passionate about his beliefs, and didn’t shy away from a debate, in fact he welcomed it.
From this site:http://www.wellstone.org/
"Paul Wellstone was one of a kind. He was a man of principle and conviction, in a world that has too little of either. He was dedicated to helping the little guy, in a business dominated by the big guys."
Wellstone had guts. He was actually willing to state an opinion without the obligatory “the American people (subtext: polling) would want, blah.” He was a liberal willing to admit he was a liberal, and not just at a DNC fundraiser.
Sure, I disagreed with him about 50% of the time, like most politicians. But, I respected the guy. What a horrible tragedy losing one whole branch of a family in one accident.
The weather seems as though it certainly could have been a factor. I don’t wish to assert that because I brought something up to discuss, I necessarily believe it is the case. I just don’t know. But It was something that popped into my head right away, and, well, it wouldn’t be he first time someone was eliminated from a competition at a particularly efficient time. (sigh!)