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Eugene McCarthy: a brief tribute

Discussion in 'Fred's House of Pancakes' started by Jack 06, Dec 11, 2005.

  1. Jack 06

    Jack 06 New Member

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    Eugene McCarthy, whose 1968 candidacy against Lyndon Johnson and the Vietnam War inspired me to become a political activist, has died. Few under age 50 will remember much about him, or even know who he was.

    I'm not trying to spark any political discussion by mentioning him here. I acknowledge that the movement he led, culminating in the "Children's Crusade" that won the 1972 nomination for George McGovern, was largely a failure.

    Sixteen years before he ran for President, as a Congressman in 1952, McCarthy challenged Joe McCarthy of Wisconsin in a foreign policy debate. He had that kind of guts.

    But he didn't really have the heart of a career politician. It was the heart of an idealist, a philosopher, a poet. He embodied non-big-city Minnesota liberalism at its best. Now the closest in spirit to McCarthy that we have left alive is Jerry Brown, another favorite conservative whipping boy.

    R.I.P.
     
    #1 Jack 06, Dec 11, 2005
  2. imntacrook

    imntacrook New Member

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    Yes Eugene McCarthy was a true gentleman and obviously a very nice man. I feel he was offbase for calling an end to the Vietnam war, since losing the war caused incalculable harm to millions of people. Many of them my Vietnamese friends.
     
    #2 imntacrook, Dec 11, 2005
  3. earthforum

    earthforum New Member

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    He was an author and a poet, and for 14 years he served as a Congressman and 8 more years as my Senator from Minnesota. He was Gene McCarthy. He passed away this past Saturday, December 10.

    Senator McCarthy stood alone in the early phase of the 1968 Presidential campaign to challenge a powerful sitting President of his own party and forced him not to seek a second term. It was in that campaign that he challenged the right of a President, any President, to lie to the American people about why we go to war and how we conduct a war. I was proud to serve on his campaign in 1968 and to go to my very first precinct caucus as a McCarthy delegate that same year. I was even prouder to serve as a McCarthy delegate to the 1972 Democratic Convention.

    Gene McCarthy, along with Hubert Humphrey, helped to define American Liberalism in the Sixties. They were both at the heart of writing, sponsoring, and pushing through Congress the Civil Rights and major social legislation of that decade. But it was McCarthy's unwavering stance against the Vietnam War, which he always described as morally indefensible, that he will best be remembered for. And he was right. He was also right when he said, "Party unity is not an excuse for silence.".

    Senator McCarthy inspired a whole new generation of idealists, and the Democratic Party, and America, needs more people like him, people to give voice to the voiceless. I've written a personal tribute to Senator McCarthy on my website, EarthForum's Interactive Page, at A Tribute to Senator Eugene McCarthy

    Feel free to also visit EarthForum's Interactive Editorial Page at EarthForum Earthforum has a Liberal slant, but ALL viewpoints are welcome!!

    Peace,
    Ken
     
    #3 earthforum, Dec 14, 2005
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