Sunday, October 21, 2012

RIP - George McGovern

George McGovern, the United States senator who won the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination in 1972 as an opponent of the war in Vietnam and a champion of liberal causes, and who was then trounced by President Richard M. Nixon in the general election, died early Sunday in Sioux Falls, S.D. He was 90.

My vote for Senator McGovern was my first ever vote in a presidential election...and  yes I've been a "bleeding-heart" liberal since way back. Here is what McGovern had to say about being labeled a "bleeding-heart" liberal:

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).

They don't make many like him and I am proud to have voted for him. It's really too bad Nixon won because who knows where we would be today if McGovern had prevailed.

3 comments:

karmanot said...

It's very seldom in a lifetime that we can vote for men of compassion and principle on the presidential level. Jimmy Carter was another and I'd even include Lyndon Johnson in that roster. Rest In Peace

Fallenmonk said...

Oh so right! We have had way too few opportunities to vote for such leaders. I've had the great opportunity to meet and chat with Jimmy a few times as Madam edited his Aunt Sissy's (Emily Dolvin) biography. You can feel their moral power when you are close to them. They radiate a positive energy. The contrast between others(from the dark side) that I have met such as Newt Gingrich and Tom Price is shocking. You can feel (even taste) the negative energy in the room.

karmanot said...

So true, Jimmy Carter is a role model for all Americans. The disrespect he receives as a matter of course has always upset and astonished me. We certainly don't see Bush or Clinton getting dirty building houses for the poor. Carter, might be called a true Christian walking the Talk.