Linked with The Wellstone Action, and with The real threat.
Paul David Wellstone (July 21, 1944 – October 25, 2002) was a two-term U.S. Senator from the U.S. state of Minnesota and member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, which is affiliated with the national Democratic Party. Before being elected to the Senate in 1990, he was a professor of political science at Carleton College. Wellstone was a progressive and a leading spokesman for the progressive wing of the national Democratic Party. He served in the Senate in the 102nd, 103rd, 104th, 105th, 106th, and 107th congresses from 1991 until his death in a plane crash on 25 October 2002, 11 days before he was to stand in the midterm US senate election. His wife, Sheila, and daughter, Marcia, also died in the crash. They had two other grown children, David and Mark, who now co-chair the Wellstone Action nonprofit group … (full long text).
excerpt chapter 3: … We know that in 2002 Vice President Lon Cheney told Senator Paul Wellstone that “If you vote against the war in Iraq, the Bush administration will do whatever is necessary to get you. There will be severe ramifications for you and the state of Minnesota.” We know that Wellstone did vote against the war in Iraq. And we know that soon afterward he was assassinated. This fact is terrifying. It is a matter not of politics clean or dirty, but it is a matter of terrorism … (full long text).
Wellstone Act will enable all to do well, March 14, 2008.
.
Paul Wellstone – USA (1944 – 2002)
Watch him on the video: Charlie Rose with WELLSTONE (and SHORTZ and ANVERSA), Charlie Rose Inc., 57.03 min, 16 July 2001.
WASHINGTON – Five years after Paul Wellstone’s death, the U.S. House is poised to pass a mental health and addiction bill named for the late Minnesota senator who championed the cause in the last years of his life … (full text, March 4, 2008).
Paul Wellstone was the only progressive in the U.S. Senate. Mother Jones magazine once described him as, « The first 1960s radical elected to the U.S. senate. » He was also the last. Since defeating incumbent Republican Rudy Boschowitz 12 years ago in a grassroots upset, Wellstone emerged as the strongest, most persistent, most articulate and most vocal Senate opponent of the Bush administration. In a senate that is one heartbeat away from Republican control, Wellstone was more than just another Democrat. He was often the lone voice standing firm against the status-quo policies of both the Democrats and the Republicans … (full text, and scroll down for more photos).
In April 2003, the Paul and Sheila Wellstone Muscular Dystrophy Center was created to facilitate development of clinical, translational, and basic research on muscular dystrophy, to enhance and support clinical care of patients with muscular dystrophy, to improve educational experience for undergraduate, graduate, and professional students interested in the fields of basic and clinical muscle research, and to increase interaction and support from the regional community of patients and families concerned about muscular dystrophy (the Paul and Sheila Wellstone’s Muscular Dystrophy Center).
It was said: « He was such a good man, and his wife too, » said Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont. « All of these people had families and they had friends and this is a horrible, horrible thing » … (CNN).
Having spent most of their public and private lives side by side, the Wellstones died together this morning, along with one of their three children, three campaign aides and two pilots, when the small plane they were in crashed outside a tiny airport in northern Minnesota. Mrs. Wellstone, 58, worked without salary in the Wellstone Senate office, focusing on domestic violence. She coordinated an annual exhibition in the Capitol Rotunda devoted to the issue, and many lawmakers looked to her for leadership on it. « She was the best listener I have ever known, » said Marsha Avner, who was a spokeswoman for Mr. Wellstone from 1991 to 1996. « People would tell her their stories ». (full text).
Senator Wellstone of Minnesota says he has Multiple Sclerosis.
The local television reporter had two questions for Senator Paul Wellstone after his visit Friday morning to Brigham Upholstery, an eight-person company in Duluth, Minn., that makes airplane seat covers. First was the perfunctory what-are-we-doing-here, so Senator Wellstone, a Democrat seeking a third term, could opine about the spiraling health care costs for small businesses. Then the reporter, Sofia Vahamaki of Channel 10 in Duluth, got what she came for: a sound bite on the senator’s opposition to unilateral action against Iraq. « But can I ask you a favor? » Mr. Wellstone said afterward, politely trying, as he has been for days, to change the subject. « You’ll do something on this company, right? » Sheepish, Ms. Vahamaki sighed and said, « I have bosses that want me to ask that question » … (full text).
Barack Obama, his minister, and the Wellstone funeral, by Charles A. Morse, March 24, 2008.
Find him and his publications on wikipedia/further reading; on The Voice of Paul Wellstone; on Google Video-search; on Google Book-search; on Google Scholar-search; on Google Group-search; on Google Blog-search.
links: