Senate Passes Resolution Honoring Paul Wellstone
Senate Passes Resolution Honoring Paul Wellstone
Before adjourning last week, the Senate passed a resolution praising the accomplishments of the late progressive Senator from Minnesota Paul Wellstone, who died in a tragic plane crash on October 25, 2002.
The measure introduced by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) stated that “Senator Paul Wellstone should be remembered for his compassion and leadership on social issues throughout his career,” particularly his tireless work to advance mental health parity for all Americans.
While introducing the resolution on the Senate floor, Durbin recalled one particular moment that stood out in his mind that exemplified Wellstone’s vision and courage:
I can recall the last time I saw him. He was a few feet away from me here. It was the night we cast our vote on the Iraqi war. It was a vote that was a hard one. …
Twenty-three of us voted against the war that night. I was one, Paul Wellstone was another. It was even later than now that night, and I came to the well on the floor to say goodbye to Paul because we were both off for the reelection campaigns of 4 years ago. I came over to wish him well, and I said, “Paul, I hope that vote doesn’t cost you the election.” He said, “You know, it is OK if it does because that is what I believe and that is who I am. The people of Minnesota would expect nothing less from me.” It was the last time I ever saw him. He went home, and within 2 weeks he was killed in a plane crash with his wife and staff members.
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He said, “You know, it is OK if it does because that is what I believe and that is who I am. The people of Minnesota would expect nothing less from me.â€
We need more of this in all areas of life, not only the political arena.
Wellstone was a great man.
Does it usually take so long to pass a resolution honoring someone like this?
November 24th, 2006 at 2:40 pmDick Cheney probably got his lawyer, David Addington, to sabotage Paul Wellstone's airplane.
November 24th, 2006 at 2:42 pmZooey, the Senate also passed a resolution remembering Wellstone a few days after the plane crash:
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c107:4:./temp/~mdbsNDhxkd::
November 24th, 2006 at 2:48 pmJFK, RFK, MLK, Wellstone, ...
The good die young. Cheney survives four heart attacks.
Wellstone's plane crash is another one of those quirky incidents with all kinds of unanswered questions.
Hmmmmm.......
November 24th, 2006 at 2:59 pmThanks, Faiz!
November 24th, 2006 at 2:59 pm23 voices of reasons.
And how many Dems voted to give extra-legal power and abandon precedent and sense only because they were afraid of the Republican campaigns that would be run against them next time they were up for re-election?
I'm sure that many Senators, seeing how the war has been a diastser, wish they had been brave and not cowardly. been like Wellstone, in other words.
November 24th, 2006 at 3:09 pmMason Jennings wrote an amazing song called "Ballad of Paul and Shiela" which i implore you all to listen to!
November 24th, 2006 at 3:21 pmWe've got bumper stickers here in MN: "WWWD?"
November 24th, 2006 at 4:01 pmIt's about time that the country recognizes what a true patriot Mr. Wellstone was.
November 24th, 2006 at 4:11 pm. . . a mensch
November 24th, 2006 at 4:14 pmWhy would he need a lawyer to get drunk and shoot a plane? =)
November 24th, 2006 at 4:17 pm23 voices of reasons.
Comment by Toro — November 24, 2006 @ 3:09 pm
Anyone know their names? We should be remembering them too, alive or dead, if for no other reason than the hundreds of thousands of dead that came from the Iraq war.
November 24th, 2006 at 4:19 pmWas Paul Wellstone murdered days before his election in order to secure passage of the Iraqi war plans by the Congress?
http://www.alternet.org/story/14399/
a mensch, indeed.
November 24th, 2006 at 4:19 pmWhile Wellstone looks different for raising his voice and ask some questions. What was he doing should be the normal thing for all senators to do....but when he spoke among silent senate like he did, he was quickly recognized for a job all senators should have done but they chose to take a deep sleep instead.
November 24th, 2006 at 4:47 pmThe Senators who voted against it:
November 24th, 2006 at 5:18 pmDaniel Akaka
Jeff Bingaman
Barbara Boxer
Robert Byrd
Lincoln Chafee
Jon Corzine
Kent Conrad
Mark Dayton
Dick Durbin
Russ Feingold
Bob Graham
Daniel Inouye
Jim Jeffords
Ted Kennedy
Patrick Leahy
Carl Levin
Barbara Mikulski
Patty Murray
Jack Reed
Paul Sarbanes
Debbie Stabenow
Paul Wellstone
Ron Wyden
The second day the music died.
November 24th, 2006 at 5:33 pmI didn’t drive my Chevy to the levee but I was drinking whiskey and rye.
A plane crash which, by the way, has never been reasonably explained to the American public.
The second election cycle in a row, by the way, in which a leading progressive figure who looked unbeatable at the polls died in a plane crash shortly before the election under mysterious circumstances.
Sierra Volk
November 24th, 2006 at 6:42 pm#3, could have been an EMP weapon as well, although simplicity is always an advantage. In any case "poor weather" isn't exactly a convincing explanation.
November 24th, 2006 at 7:01 pmIn all likelihood, if Paul Wellstone were alive today, he, unlike his senate colleagues, would be advocating that the United States withdraw its forces from Iraq as quickly as possible, realizing, justifiably, that the troops are being blown up and killed for no justifiable reason whatsoever. If only his fellow Minnesotan, Al Franken, felt the same way.
November 24th, 2006 at 7:25 pmI'm sorry that Senator Durbin forgot to mention that Marcia, Paul and Shelia' s daughter, also died.
November 24th, 2006 at 7:29 pmMy son voted for Paul in the primary. I have always been thankful that he could vote for him. Paul Wellstone was a unique individual. You knew he cared. His family cared. I was at a luncheon with his wife. She agreed to attend because the luncheon honored youth who volunteered. What a tragedy to have lost those two people, their daughter and the staff that worked with them. It still breaks my heart.
November 24th, 2006 at 7:44 pmAnd mankind has become polluted once again, as the days of the Romans the decay comes from the top and all suffer henceforthly.
Why for not can they see?
Aye, for the love of humanity if their is a higher power I beg you for attention and to restore these politicians lost and materialistically polluted virtue!
November 24th, 2006 at 7:52 pmI read somewhere the Democrat/Progressive leaders are TWICE as likely to die in "accidental" plane crashes than Republican/Conservative leaders. (I don't remember the source, sorry!)
Since I doubt that the weather cares about political affiliations, I begin to feel suspicious whenever I hear about losses like this.
November 24th, 2006 at 8:32 pmThe nation suffered more than the loss of life when Wellstone died - we lost a man with a conscience who would have left a very positive influence in government.
November 24th, 2006 at 8:50 pmThe good die young -- while the likes of Dick Cheney go on and on and on.
I am just reading the comments, and I see that I repeated #5 Fuzzwald. Sorry - I don't do that on purpose -- but it does show that we think alike.
November 24th, 2006 at 8:51 pmThat's called "INTEGRITY". It is most unfortunate that it seems to be in such short supply.
November 24th, 2006 at 8:56 pmOh ye man cannot you see?
thought has no color.
balance ye mind
join thy future
the past a dream
come with me
divorce the matter
from thought
November 25th, 2006 at 12:40 amtis but a step
November 25th, 2006 at 12:41 amWhy don't they honor him with an authentic investigation into his timely murder. The Capitol is revolting by trying to honor Wellstone. I'm certain Paul was assasinated and the likely murders and enablers are throwing it our face. America is going further down a dark road. Snap out of it sheeple, the world is yours.
November 25th, 2006 at 7:44 amWellstone was murdered!
November 25th, 2006 at 7:58 amI doubt that he was assassinated but I'm sure many rejoiced at his death.
Wellstone was a rare, authentic man of the people. His absence leaves a gaping hole that hhas not yet been filled.
The best way to honor him is to honor his legacy with progressive legislation and struggle against right-wing criminal hypocrisy, not empty claptrap.
November 25th, 2006 at 8:01 amThe best way to honor Paul and Sheila would be to continue the work they started and were engaged in when they died. Starting with the passage of the mental health parity bill (which would require insurers to stop discriminating against mental illnesses and people with them) in the first days of the 110th Congress. Then move aggressively forward on the big, bold, progressive agenda Paul laid out over his time in the Senate; universal health care, clean elections, stronger labor laws, real environmental protection, good affordable education and child care for everyone, a welfare program that seeks to reduce poverty instead of kicking people off the rolls, protections for consumers and real checks on corporate power, peace and diplomacy instead of war and militarism...in short, things that would allow every American to live with dignity and without fear of unfair tragedy, things that would make America live up to its promise of equal opportunity, and things that give us reason to hope for ourselves, our country, our children, and our planet.
That's what we should all be working for to honor the memory of the Wellstones.
Never separate the life you lead from the words you speak. -Paul Wellstone
November 25th, 2006 at 9:20 am# 3.. lawyers ruin peoples lives, not their engines
(im a law student so its ok for to me make fun of myself)
November 25th, 2006 at 1:16 pmThat conspiracy theory about Wellstone's death is BS. As liberal as I am, I think that these retarded theories about "Bush planning 9/11" and "Wellstone murdered" need to stop. The author in that article gave no evidence for his claim.
November 25th, 2006 at 4:57 pmo
November 25th, 2006 at 6:01 pmLeave it to DICK Durbin....."worrying" about Senator Wellstones' re-election? In Minnesota???? Puhleeeezzz...........
November 26th, 2006 at 2:53 amA good man.
And sadly his name will also always be connected to the most shameful act of political propaganda in recent years, when the right took his funeral from us to elect one of them. I have an urge to spit in contempt every time I think about it.
Sorry, Senator. I should get over it and remember you for the man you have been.
November 26th, 2006 at 5:50 pm