Remembering Paul and Sheila Wellstone

[sheshe2]

Today is the 13th anniversary of the day that little airplane went down taking the lives of Paul and Sheila Wellstone (along with their daughter and four others). I usually shed a few tears on this anniversary and try to find a way to commemorate it. That’s not just because I had the distinct privilege of meeting both Paul and Sheila. It is because they will forever represent the very best of what all of us hope for in public servants.

In order to honor their memory, I could post the campaign ad Paul put out when he first ran for Senate. It does a great job of capturing the spirit he brought to politics. Or perhaps we could look at the tribute his Senate colleagues put together after his death. I’ve always loved what Ezra Klein wrote about Paul Wellstone on the sixth anniversary of his death.

But perhaps my very favorite tribute to this great man comes from a friend of mine - Pakou Hang - who worked with him on his last senate campaign. And yes, she is still very active in the community sending out the ripples. I think that is the message Paul and Sheila would want us to remember today.

http://immasmartypants.blogspot.com/2015/10/remembering-paul-and-sheila-wellstone.html

[tavernier]

1. I remember...

Thank you for acknowledging their lives!!

[GGJohn]

2. May they forever rest in peace.

[midnight]

3. Kick. For more thoughtful and compassionate people to step forward and contribute.

[artislife]

4. Yes, this is a very moving tribute.

Thank you for posting.

[hifiguy]

5. His loss left a gaping hole in the party,

nowhere more than here in Minnesota.

A genuinely good and decent man, who should have had many, many more years.

[MBS]

6. Thank you so much.

I can remember the moment I heard. . I was driving in my car, with NPR on the radio, and they were referring to Wellstone in the past tense. I yelled to the radio.. "WHAT?" as I realized what that past tense meant. .
We really needed him, and still need him.
A HUGE loss.

[Omaha Steve]

7. K&R anytime this come up

OS

[Iliyah]

8. K & R

[passiveporcupine]

9. That tribute by Pakau Hang was truly beautiful

[sheshe2]

10. Yes it was passiveporcupine.

Thanks~

[mountain grammy]

11. Thank you. A lovely way to remember a huge loss.

[wellstone dem]

12. I miss him so much.

I miss his passion.
I miss his joy.
I miss him.

[MasonDreams]

13. We miss your voice, your passion, your love. Thanks for making me proud to be an American!

[Snobblevitch]

14. What bothers me is that I do not think

the pilots were ever really impacted by their incompetence.

[Pastiche423]

16. Huh?

The pilots had nothing to do w/the crash.

[hack89]

18. They had everything to do with the crash according to the NTSB

During the later stages of the approach," the Board said, the flight crew "failed to monitor the airplane's airspeed and allowed it to decrease to a dangerously low level (as low as about 50 knots below the company's recommended approach speed) and to remain below the recommended approach speed for about 50 seconds." The airplane then entered a stall from which it did not recover.

The Board judged that while cloud cover might have prevented the flight crew from seeing the airport, icing did not affect the airplane's performance during the descent. Cockpit instrument readings on course alignment and airspeed should have prompted the flight crew to execute a go-around.

The Board did not find indications of any preexisting medical or other physical condition that might have adversely affected the crew's performance during the accident flight. Crew fatigue also does not appear to have been a factor in the accident. A review of flight crew records and interviews with co-workers, the Board said, indicated that both pilots had "previously demonstrated serious performance deficiencies consistent with below- average flight proficiency." There was no clear evidence as to which crewmember was the flying pilot at the time of the accident.

http://www.ntsb.gov/news/press-releases/Pages/NTSB_Cites_Flight_Crew_Failures_in_Crash_of_Airplane_Carrying_Senator_Wellstone_7_Others.aspx

[awoke_in_2003]

19. Dying...

isn't considered being impacted by incompetence?

[Snobblevitch]

20. Prior to the crash.

They knew they were crappy pilots. Wellstone liked them and was loyal and it cost him, his wife, and his daughter their lives.

[awoke_in_2003]

22. Oh, got you...

I just read it up a little on the prior concerns about their proficiency.

[burrowowl]

15. I remember

May their legacy live on!

[Bluenorthwest]

17. "they will forever represent the very best of what all of us hope for in public servants." No, sorry

Wellstone was a DOMA yes voter, who was particularly dismissive and nasty to those who basically begged him to be the progressive he traded on being when it mattered to other people so directly and so fully.
I get that straight people don't mind anti gay bigotry, but please do NOT claim tospeak for all of us, that is not your right. People who voted against my civil rights are not what I hope for. Should not be what anyone hopes for.
Voted for the Patriot Act, voted to prevent equality for millions of Americans and when he died he was still saying he was not sure if that was right or wrong.

Here one can see the Advocate article expressing great disappointment in his obviously self protective vote against the rights of millions of people.
https://books.google.com/books?id=KGQEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT36&lpg=PT36&dq=wellstone%27s+doma+vote&source=bl&ots=MVx8N8GBvz&sig=tQ2AyRaA04i97nV5qiurVQxx_eo&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CFgQ6AEwCGoVChMIl5zY7JLgyAIVAstjCh0Pxgfz#v=onepage&q=wellstone%27s%20doma%20vote&f=false

If he was mourned as a mixed bag, that would be fine. Do not care for the excuses made for his uglier choices. And he made a few of them.

[bvar22]

21. I had the honor of working for Paul Wellstone's last campaign before he was killed.

He was an honorable man....a rarity among our current crop of money grubbing politicians.
Paul was an inspiration that kept me from going completely sour on the Democratic Party.

It was not uncommon to find Paul & Sheila sitting next to you wearing "cut-off" jeans and a Tee Shirt, sitting in the wet grass at the Labor Day Picnic with (gasp) Union Workers who had dirty fingernails!
Unrestrained assess for his People.


....Miss You, Paul!


[font color=firebrick][center]"There are forces within the Democratic Party who want us to sound like kinder, gentler Republicans.
I want a party that will STAND UP for Working Americans."
---Paul Wellstone [/font][/center] [center] [/font]
[font size=1]photo by bvar22
Shortly before Sen Wellstone was killed[/center][/font]

[arikara]

23. K&R

[napkinz]

24. ...

[sheshe2]

25. Hey napkinz,

good to see you, I have missed you.

[napkinz]

27. hey sheshe

I've missed you too

[Octafish]

26. Sen. Wellstone was the only DEM senate candidate running for re-election to oppose Iraq War II.

Paul Wellstone was the only senator who was up for re-election who voted no on the (Iraq War) resolution. The vote was on Oct. 11, 2002, less than a month before Election Day and Wellstone was locked in a tight race with Republican Norm Coleman, who strongly supported Bush and the war. It was Wellstone's last gutty liberal vote. The plane crash was precisely two weeks later.

https://www.minnpost.com/eric-black-ink/2013/03/minnesota-senators-no-votes-iraq-war-and-other-10th-anniversary-thoughts