Former Rep. @JohnDingell, the longest-serving member of Congress in history, died yesterday.
On the day he died, he dictated his last message for America to his wife. Here is that message: https://t.co/SJwaTcA97S
— Mark Berman (@markberman) February 8, 2019
… In my life and career, I have often heard it said that so-and-so has real power — as in, “the powerful Wile E. Coyote, chairman of the Capture the Road Runner Committee.”
It’s an expression that has always grated on me. In democratic government, elected officials do not have power. They hold power — in trust for the people who elected them. If they misuse or abuse that public trust, it is quite properly revoked (the quicker the better)…
Very sad news. @JohnDingell always sped by me in his scooter calling “keep up Tammy,” racing for the elevator to go cast our votes. I never won & always marveled at this great public servant who was also my arch nemesis in the wheelchair elevator wars https://t.co/ZHHJ6OCpYv
— Tammy Duckworth (@SenDuckworth) February 8, 2019
Zack Stanton, in Politico, “You’re Living in the America John Dingell Made”:
… He was elected to the House of Representatives in 1955, a year after the Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education deemed “separate but equal” unconstitutional; he remained in office into the second term of the nation’s first black president. His 59 years in Congress are the most of anyone in American history and span more than a quarter of the time since the Constitution created the legislative branch. He was sworn in at 29, the same age Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is today. She would have to remain in the House until 2078 to match his tenure. He was there for the administrations of 11 of the nation’s 45 presidents. “Presidents come and presidents go,” Bill Clinton said at a 2005 celebration of Dingell’s 50th year in Congress. “John Dingell goes on forever.”…
Modern America is as much a creation of John Dingell’s life work as anyone’s. If you or a parent or grandparent have relied on Medicare or Medicaid; if you’ve seethed about the lack of gun control; if you’ve cheered that segregation of public places is illegal and employment discrimination is banned; if you’re thankful for the continued existence of the U.S. auto industry; if you’ve raged about gas-guzzling cars contributing to climate change; if your health insurance is purchased on the Obamacare exchanges; if you’ve swum in lakes or rivers or oceans free from toxic pollution; if you’ve drunk a glass of or bathed your children in tap water with confidence that it’s free from contamination; then John Dingell played a role in your life…
Proud to Be A Democrat: John Dingell’s Last WarningPost + Comments (31)