Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

FFS people, this was a good thing. take the win.

How any woman could possibly vote for this smug smarmy piece of misogynistic crap is beyond understanding.

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

Republicans do not pay their debts.

I’d try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

This really is a full service blog.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires.

In after Baud. Damn.

Compromise? There is no middle ground between a firefighter and an arsonist.

The republican speaker is a slippery little devil.

Hey Washington Post, “Democracy Dies in Darkness” is supposed to be a warning, not a mission statement.

Boeing: repeatedly making the case for high speed rail.

We won’t go back.

The problem people have with Biden’s age is the color of the VPs skin.

“I never thought they’d lock HIM up,” sobbed a distraught member of the Lock Her Up Party.

Elections aren’t won by handwringing, cowering, and/or bashing your own candidates.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

Days Since JD Vance Insulted Women Across America: Zero

The current Supreme Court is a rogue court. Very dangerous.

“The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.”

Roe isn’t about choice, it’s about freedom.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

“Joe Biden deserved better than he got from some folks in his own party.”

Tick tock motherfuckers!

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Rest in Peace, George McGovern

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77Comments

  1. 1.

    bob h

    I will never forget a Public TV program years agi that had McGovern and McCain debating foreign policy and military affairs. McCain was contemptuous of McGovern as some sort of peacenik pansy. I wanted to remind McCain that McGovern was a genuine war hero, one who managed to keep himself airborne and stay in the fight.

  2. 2.

    Elizabelle

    I hope that some of the gentle spirit of George McGovern, and his ideals, settle over the political scene in the coming weeks.

    And, FWIW, there is still no indication of his passing on The Washington Post website at this moment. It’s been at least 70-80 minutes since the NYTimes put up an alert, and CNN had the news before that.

    NYTimes sent an email alert out at 7:54 a Eastern, probably 20-30 mins. after they had a headline up at their site.

  3. 3.

    Elizabelle

    The Los Angeles Times has a banner headline on the late Senator McGovern.

    I really don’t know who runs the WaPost these days.

  5. 5.

    Elizabelle

    Let’s make that gentle FIGHTING spirit.

    We need more George McGoverns.

    A life well lived, and we are better for his public service.

  6. 6.

    Robin G.

    Wow. Maybe I’m just feeling emotional this morning, but I cried reading about that farmhouse. RIP George McGovern.

  7. 7.

    GregB

    A comic named Barry Crimmins posted:

    Rest in PEACE!

    A truly decent human, which explains why he lost in a landslide. I am convinced that was the fork in the road for America, that 1972 election.

    It produced Watergate and the subsequent pardoning of Nixon. The message from that: The highest powers can suffer only so much…some public scorn, but not actual criminal punishment.

    The Nixon Republicans went on to give us Karl Rove, Grover Norquist and of course Dick Cheney. They have been blowing up the foundations of civil society ever since.

  8. 8.

    ShyLurker

    @Elizabelle: Not to excuse the WaPo (because most of the time they are execrable!) but an admin on the Post’s weather blog put up a comment this morning advising that their web publishing portal is in a prolonged outage.

  10. 10.

    Elizabelle

    9:22 a, and the Washington Post’s website has not changed in maybe 90 minutes.

    Maybe they don’t have staff on Sundays?

    Maybe Senator McGovern’s passing took them by surprise, after days in hospice?

  13. 13.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Robin G.:

    I agree. It’s an incredibly moving story. And if it had that effect on you and me, at a remove of thousands of miles and nearly seven decades — can you imagine McGovern’s own reaction? What a burden to carry around for so long, and what an indescribable relief it must have been to learn what really happened.

    He was a good man.

  18. 18.

    Gregory

    RIP, Senator.

    I was just a boy during the ’72 campaign, but I knew my parents opposed Nixon. Hunter S. Thompson’s Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ’72 is a must-read for political junkies, and just as HST makes clear he thinks Nixon is an evil mutant, he also portrays the innate goodness of McGovern.

  19. 19.

    debbie

    Thank you for that link. I’d love to somehow force Republicans to see up close the consequences of their “principles” (as in Clockwork Orange), the world would be a better place.

    I voted for McGovern in my first national election. His passing points out to me how little things have really changed since then.

  20. 20.

    Elizabelle

    From the NYTimes obit:

    Mr. McGovern offered his own assessment of the campaign. “I don’t think the American people had a clear picture of either Nixon or me,” he said in the 2005 interview. “I think they thought that Nixon was a strong, decisive, tough-minded guy and that I was an idealist and antiwar guy who might not attach enough significance to the security of the country.
    __
    “The truth is, I was the guy with the war record, and my opposition to Vietnam was because I was interested in the nation’s well-being.”
    __
    His staff, he said, urged him to talk more about his war experience, but like many World War II veterans at the time, he was reluctant to do so.
    __
    How long, he was asked, did it take to get over the disappointment of losing? “You never fully get over it,” he replied. “But I’ve had a good life. I’ve enjoyed myself 90 percent of the time.”

  21. 21.

    CarolDuhart2

    I hope in the next days we can celebrate McGovern the humanitarian and the reformer:

    cGovern’s rehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McGovern%E2%80%93Fraser_Commission”>McGovern-Fraser commission ended the tradition of the smokefilled room for presidential candidates and elevated primaries instead. Now all Democrats and Democratic leaning voters could weigh in on a nominee instead of having party bosses choose a candidate behind closed doors.

    McGovern also opened up the doors for women and minorities to participate in the Democratic Party. That opening, that led to the flight of a lot of white working class people was often lamented, but now in 2012, the Democrats have a deep bench of talented people to draw on. And as the new demographics are changing America, there is a deep pool of support among them for the Democrats. That’s a reason why Obama starts with a hefty Electoral vote count of over 250 and needs only a few states to get over. That’s a reason why there is the talented Obama in the White House to begin with.

    McGovern also fought all his life to end hunger both here and abroad. In 1961 he was the first head of the Food for PeaceProgram. Food was sent to India and all over the world instead of rotting in silos in South Dakota.

    In short, McGovern was an underrated politician, far more ethical and far too visionary than his times would allow, but despite all that, he did a great deal anyway.

  23. 23.

    gravie

    My first presidential vote was cast for George McGovern, and I will always proudly say so. He was the real deal — a man who lived an admirable, principled life full of intelligent ideas. He cared about other people, and looked after the best interests of this country even when he was mocked and derided. He’s one of my heroes.

  25. 25.

    mai naem

    George McGovern RIP. He lived a long worthwhile life and made a real difference. He apparently was the person behind the school lunch program because of the studies that showed kids would learn more if they weren’t hungry(what a concept!) He continued that in an international manner too.

  26. 26.

    amk

    A country which voted to re-elect a thug like nixon in one of the biggest landslides in US history against McGovern is a fucked up country indeed.

  27. 27.

    gbear

    @gravie: Me too. I turned 18 in the summer of 72 and my first ever vote was cast for McGovern. I actually went to a caucus meeting with a friend of mine to find out how they worked. Given I lived miles from my friend, I was probably at the wrong meeting. We were out of step with everyone else in the room and kind of put off that our opinions weren’t going to matter. We were probably the only two in the room that had to carry draft cards, also too.

  28. 28.

    JPL

    @amk: McGovern was the first president that I voted for. He let Nixon and the thugs define him and didn’t fight back hard enough. Eagleton had to resign as the VP candidate and McGovern didn’t handle that well. The landslide was surprising but not Nixon’s victory. I will say I was pleased to live in MA at the time.

  29. 29.

    peggy

    RIP McGovern

    “Don’t blame me- I’m from Massachusetts”
    was a popular Watergate era bumper sticker in Boston.

  30. 30.

    Corpus Christy

    I hate that story. It was only dumb luck that spared the innocent Austrian farmer. Why did McGovern’s crew have to drop the bomb at all? Why not close the bay door and head back to base? They KNEW it wasn’t going to land anywhere near a designated target. Thanks for feeling guilty all those years George, but a truly happy ending would have been never learning that you hadn’t zotzed those poor bastards, and your guilt would not have been assuaged. At least then there would have been a measure of justice. RIP.

  31. 31.

    gbear

    This week is also the 10th anniversary of Paul Wellstone’s death. His plane went down on Oct. 25, 2002.

  32. 32.

    Elizabelle

    I wish McGovern could have lived long enough to see Barack Obama re-elected, and the Tea Party’s influence decline.

    Strange how he was the better man, with the better and — very honestly — more business-friendly and economy-boosting ideas: better educations, healthcare so that more people can use their talents and contribute to society. Leveling the playing field, because a strong middle class can buy more and develop businesses and services in local communities.

    Having seen war, he knew what a drain it was on economies (save that of defense contractors — the business of defense is the only fully sanctioned American jobs program).

    And yet he is pointed out as a failure — 520 to 17 electoral votes — when he was of his time (for good people) and ahead of his time (for foresight).

  33. 33.

    LittlePig

    I heard him tell the farmhouse story on Fresh Air years ago. First thing I thought of when I heard he passed away.

  34. 34.

    amk

    @JPL:

    let Nixon and the thugs define him and didn’t fight back hard enough

    aka, murkans fell for bs and lies. So, what else is new ?

    As I said, a fucked up country where nearly half the voting population doesn’t give a shite about voting. Democracy!

  36. 36.

    Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason

    Count me among the cohort that voted for McGovern in my first presidential election. And a second to the recommendation for Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail. HST confirmed everything I suspected about the two candidates.

  38. 38.

    chopper

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    hey now, we all know any other pilot would have tried to fly all the way back to base and land the plane with an armed 500lb bomb in the bay. note i said ‘tried’.

  39. 39.

    Mike in NC

    @amk:

    A country which voted to re-elect a thug like nixon in one of the biggest landslides in US history against McGovern is a fucked up country indeed.

    Agreed. Remember it was Newt the Scumbag who coined the derisive term “McGovernik” to smear people for being DFHs. Gingrich, the draft dodger and serial philanderer, was considered a serious presidential candidate by the media just a few short months ago, while George McGovern, an actual war hero who flew numerous B-24 missions over Nazi Germany, was virtually forgotten. Nothing has changed.

  40. 40.

    Elizabelle

    @amk:

    McGovern and Obama (and Lincoln before them) speak to one’s better angels.

    Karl Rove and today’s Republicans shout to one’s fears and prejudice (look at that guy over there — benefitting from your hard work. And you know you work hard, even though you’re sitting before the TV right now).

    And work to enserf what used to be the middle class; side effect of enabling the wealthy to hoover up more than their share of cash.

  41. 41.

    Perfect Tommy

    First campaign I ever worked for – McGovern/Eagleton 1972.
    Went door to door distributing flyers in Brooklyn NY.
    I was 12 years old : )

  42. 42.

    Higgs Boson's Mate

    @Corpus Christy:
    You can’t land an aircraft with “hung ordnance.” Because the bomb had already been released there was a more than even chance that the jolt of landing would have dislodged it. A 500 lb. bomb would go right through the bomb bay doors leaving the aircraft with an armed weapon bouncing along beneath it on the landing roll.

    The doctrine remains the same today; if a weapon is fired or released and it stays with the aircraft for some reason then you either shake it loose or you point the aircraft in the safest direction and get out and walk.

  43. 43.

    gelfling545

    @debbie: That was my first presidential vote also. I still recall the disappointment in my fellow citizens and serious concern that PEACE was considered a bad thing.

  45. 45.

    JPL

    @amk: At the time I could not envision a more pathetic media. Hosts such as Gregory and Wallace the younger, changed my mind though.

  46. 46.

    Villago Delenda Est

    George McGovern learned something from his role in a war.

    John McCain, apparently, did not.

    That is character. That is growth. That is integrity.

    Rest in peace, George McGovern.

  51. 51.

    SBJules

    I voted for McGovern and had a McGovern sticker on my VW Bug. It was my second national vote; the first was for Hubert Humphrey. I hope TCM shows All the President’s men soon.

  54. 54.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @gbear: He’s another one who is sorely missed. I was thinking about Wellstone just the other day and trying to figure out how long it had been.

  55. 55.

    lou

    What a great story. Notice that McCain’s career was all about his military service and you never heard about McGovern’s when he was running, only after?

    Another little fact about George McGovern that didn’t come out during the 72 election — he was an ordained Methodist minister. I was privileged to see him preach in Columbia, Missouri as a college student in 1980. It had a profound effect on me. I’d been raised as a fundamentalist who believed you couldn’t be a Christian and a liberal. The combination of McGovern and his opposite, Jerry Falwell, were enough to convince me otherwise.

  56. 56.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @jon:

    In 1952, when everyone else in the family was loudly proclaiming “I LIKE IKE,” my quietly subversive mother was saying “I’m madly for Adlai.”

  57. 57.

    Ben Franklin

    If you haven’t seen the documentary on Hunter S. Thompson, ‘Gonzo’ you might enjoy the McGovern input.

  59. 59.

    Bailey

    Check out “One Bright Shining Moment” (streaming on Netflix) for a nice portrayal of McGovern the man and politician.

  61. 61.

    Anya

    During my years in Congress and for the four decades since, I’ve been labeled a ‘bleeding-heart liberal.’ It was not meant as a compliment, but I gladly accept it. My heart does sometimes bleed for those who are hurting in my own country and abroad. A bleeding-heart liberal, by definition, is someone who shows enormous sympathy towards others, especially the least fortunate. Well, we ought to be stirred, even to tears, by society’s ills. And sympathy is the first step toward action. Empathy is born out of the old biblical injunction “Love the neighbor as thyself.”
    —George S. McGovern, What It Means to Be a Democrat (2011).

    H/T DKos

    From everything I’ve read about him, he was a compassionate and thoughtful public servant. America would have been a different place if McGavarn was elected instead of Richard Nixon. I think the cynicism and outright hostility to government would not have taken hold.

    RIP, Senetor McGavarn.

  66. 66.

    cckids

    @GregB: Don’t forget Roger Ailes. He worked for Nixon as well. Its like a crop of hateful seeds were sown, and have been producing discord ever since.

  67. 67.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @gbear:

    I’ve always liked Franken, but he’s kept a much lower profile since becoming a Senator than I would have expected. Maybe that means he’s studying hard and spending a lot of time back home doing what he was elected to do, and good on him. I think it was Aimai who mentioned in a recent thread that Franken was stumping for Elizabeth Warren in MA, pointing out the importance (and he should know!) of every.single.vote. From where I sit in Georgia (Saxby and Johnny are my Senators), I must say I’m quite envious.

    ETA: Whew! Caught FYWP just in time! Autocorrect wanted to change your Senator’s name to “Frankenstein.”

  68. 68.

    Violet

    @SiubhanDuinne: I wonder if Franken is the type of Senator who will have a higher profile if/when he gets elected a second time. He may be doing all he can to learn his job and do it well so that he makes his constituents happy and gives an opponent little reason to claim he was just a stunt or a joke.

  70. 70.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    Also, too, in to be the first to say that McGovern was NOT my first vote, because I was 3 years old in 1972. Take that, Oldy McOldersons. ;-)

    (Yes,I fully realize that posting this means someone young enough to be my adult child will post right after me.)

  71. 71.

    amk

    @Anya: It’s doing fine. We throw out real bums every election cycle. And we sure don’t need UN observers for our elections. Also, too, honey, we don’t try to shove down ‘democracy’ the other countries’ throats.

  74. 74.

    lucslawyer

    George McGovern was the first presidential candidate for whom I ever voted, and I have always been proud of that vote. RIP Senator McGovern.

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