A legendary legislator has passed:
Michigan Democrat John Dingell, the longest-serving member ever of Congress who helped write most of the nation’s major environmental and energy laws, died Thursday, his wife said. He was 92.
The Dearborn statesman was a champion of the auto industry and was credited with increasing access to health care, among other accomplishments. Dingell helped write most of America’s major environmental and energy laws.
He was also absolutely hysterical on twitter, and I can only imagine how funny he was in person.
Lapassionara
Sigh.
JGabriel
Condolences to Rep. Dingell’s wife, family, and friends. He will be missed.
feebog
He was an absolute dead aim, no hostage’s taken Twitterer. RIP Congressman.
Yarrow
Oh, that’s so sad. He was a such a great legislator. And, as you said, absolutely hilarious on Twitter. RIP and condolences to his family.
chopper
goddammit! i loved that guy. funniest old guy on twitter also.
WaterGirl
Sad day. John Dingell, you will be missed.
jl
Very sad news. My condolences to all who knew him. He seemed like a genuinely good and warm person.
Brilliant with the twitter machine, which is hard to do as we all see every day.
Sweet and inspiring when I read that the youngin’ AOC endorsed the eldster John Dingell’s social media skills with the twitter machine.
He’ll be in my thoughts, along with his family and friends.
rikyrah
RIP???
Villago Delenda Est
I haz a serious sad. He RULED Twitter. His snark will be sorely missed.
Rest in peace, John Dingell.
rikyrah
@chopper:
His Twitter game was so strong ??
Baud
@rikyrah:
Agreed.
RIP Dingell.
Anne Laurie
He will be missed, and mourned, by good people.
What better epitaph for a professional politician?
philpm
Damn, that was fast. I don’t do Twitter, but I saw many a tweet of his through other outlets, and you could tell he was a straight shooting, no BS kinda guy. RIP, and condolences to his family.
Ruckus
@Anne Laurie:
I can’t think of anything better for a professional politician than that.
RIP. Ya done good Mr. John Dingell, a life well spent.
Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho
@Anne Laurie: Indeed. That’s the best. And he deserves it. Condolences to his family and friends; his passing is a loss for all of us.
Ohio Mom
Just yesterday he tweeted that he’d be dictating his tweets to his wife, “you’re not done with me yet.” Such spirit!
I’m sorry he’s not going to see this country, which he clearly loved, right itself.
Mary G
He was one of the good ones. When the auto companies were all in the toilet, and Mitt Romney & other Republicans were all “let ’em die, creative destruction” he was magnificent.
TaMara (HFG)
I loved following him on Twitter. RIP and thank you for all the good you did.
Mary G
Yutsano
Oh man. A master of the House and a damn strong Twitter game as well. Baruch Dayan Emet
trollhattan
A grateful nation thanks you, sir.
A valued voice silenced and I suspect you had a great time on your journey. Can only hope to emulate it at least a bit.
Mary G
Welp, he must care about looking like a Republican rubber stamp:
I can’t but laugh that evangelicals sold their souls to the devil for not much so far.
dmsilev
Sigh. He was a good person.
RIP.
Mai naem mobile
This sucks. He was hilarious on the Twitter machine. RIP
Mary G
His tweet thread starting here about his father’s universal health care bill that he reintroduced every year he was in office is so full of love and joy.
SiubhanDuinne
A sad day for us. RIP, Congressman Dingell, and deepest sympathies to Representative Debbie Dingell. He was one of a kind, and I am one of the countless multitudes who will miss him.
BroD
I’m already mourning the passing of Frank Robinson. Now this.
B.B.A.
After seeing his Twitter posts, I got a sense of why Michiganders kept him around for almost 60 dang years. RIP, sir.
Mike in NC
RIP. He was a great guy.
satby
@Ohio Mom: I answered that tweet of his (as did thousands of others) to wish him well and tell him he was beloved. I hope someone read those replies to him, and like our Schlemazel, it eased his way on his journey.
May the road rise to meet you Mr. Dingell, and God hold you in the palm of his hand.
Kay
satby
@Kay: that one still makes me laugh every time!
jl
@Kay: Thanks. Didn’t remember that I should go look as his final tweets. Let’s hope Canada is getting a better rich guy for politics than we are :)
Martin
What a great guy. 92 is a pretty damn good run, though, and he spent it doing good. We should all be so fortunate.
jl
@Kay: I like this one. Sounds like an old saying I’ve never heard before, or maybe Dingell came up with it?
@JohnDingell
Crooks like Trump will steal a hot stove and come back for the smoke. There’s no bar too low.
https://twitter.com/JohnDingell/status/1088591981578719233
Mike E
We had a confab of enviros in DC years ago, where we visited Congress and patted ourselves on the back for protecting air, land and water. Rep Dingell was a committed conservationist and warmly invited us to a special private nighttime party at the Botanical Gardens. It was really a cool experience to have such a beautiful place all to ourselves! It’s a cherished memory of happier times…rest in peace.
SFAW
Congress would be much better with a bunch more like Rep. Dingell. I’m sorry to see him go.
Anne Laurie
SFAW
@Mary G:
It would be great if that were true, long-term, but I think that’s highly unlikely.
Anne Laurie
Post-Charlottesville:
Ben Cisco
The world lost a giant today. RIP.
Jeffro
@Mary G: RIP Dingell and yeah, hey how ’bout that Roberts? Cue Twitler tweet about how Roberts = the new Kennedy (or Souter, or whomever) in 3, 2, 1…
opiejeanne
I am so sorry he’s gone, and I will miss his Tweets. His was one of the first accounts I followed on Twitter and he made me laugh.
Mary G
@Jeffro: Well, Roberts did that one good thing, but the righties just lifted the stay for the guy on death row who wanted his imam with him when he was executed on the grounds that he didn’t ask soon enough.
WaterGirl
@Anne Laurie: That’s a good one!
WaterGirl
@Mary G: Fuckers.
The Midnight Lurker
R.I.P. Rep. Dingell.
I met him a couple of times at national. He was a very warm and funny, funny guy! He was a 2nd Louie in the Army in WWII, and was set to take part in the attack on mainland Japan. Dingell said the atomic bomb saved his life.
Eternal peace to you, sir. I never did get to ‘Baker’s Lounge’ – but I will!
jacy
Very sad. He will be sorely missed, but he leaves behind so much good.
Amir Khalid
I’m getting a video ad in the right-hand column for The Hollywood Reporter that won’t stay blocked. What should I do?
lower podunk
@Amir Khalid: Hi Amir,
I was getting those videos too. I use AdBlock Plus. I added “connatix.com” to my filter and it removed the vid.
Anne Laurie
@Amir Khalid: I’m seeing this note near the top of the right-hand column:
cthulhu
Bummer. He should have outlived Trump.
tobie
So sad to hear of Congressman Dingell’s passing. His punchy tweets helped me get through the past two years. We will miss you, sir!
Caphilldcne
I work in the HIV field and he was a champion. Helped guide several reauthorizations of the Ryan White program and I think was a cosponsor if the original Ryan White CARE Act. I got to meet him directly a few times but the most memorable was if I’m recalling correctly at the White House in 2010 at the celebration of the creation of the first national HIV/AIDS strategy. I’m also from Michigan altho he was never my direct representative. He was a giant and I am truly shedding tears.
Anne Laurie