A GIANT IS GONE

Today we lost a Democratic giant. A man so revered in his own state that the Republican governor has ordered the state flags at half-mast for five days in honor of his tireless fighting on behalf of Texas and of America.

Lloyd Bentsen was a man who broke the molds. He was a pro-business Democrat, a champion of the oil and gas industry, a vehement advocate of international trade, and a true southern gentleman.

Lloyd Bentsen was a man who stood up to the special interests that lobbied for more lenient tax codes. He climbed his way from county office to presidential cabinet, and an unsuccessful bid for vice-president in 1988 with Massachusetts' governor Michael Dukakis, as well as, his own bid for the Democratic nomination in 1976 against Jimmy Carter.

Lloyd Bentsen was a shrewd politician, slipping between, back and forth, between Democratic and Republican allies to get his agenda, and the agendas of the people he so faithfully served in Texas, accomplished.

But perhaps what history will note him for most is his 1988 remarks during the vice-presidential debate with Danny Quayle. When the bumbling, but smarter-than-Bush-Junior, junior senator from Indiana compared his time served against President Kennedy's, in what would be one of MANY times during that debate, Senator Bentsen, with calm, condescending tone, slowly moved his head towards Quayle and said, per se, ". . .I served with Jack Kennedy. I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. You Senator, are no Jack Kennedy." Priceless. Quayle stammered and then called foul, whining because he'd been "out-Boston harbored," if you will (I wonder if anyone reads this is they'll get that reference?). At that moment, it seemed certain that Bentsen would go on to become the vice-president. Oh well, win some, lose some.

If I wore a hat, it would be off to you Secretary Bentsen. You were a true gentleman and a crafty statesman. It is my honor to recognize you here for the first ever The-Voice's VOICE AWARD. Since I just made that up on the spur of the moment, I have no idea what it means and know for certain that it doesn't come with a stipend or any thing for that matter. But it is a tribute from one Democrat to another. Thank you, Senator.

And while I am on Quayle here, it reminds me of something I saw once that I had to bring up again. I may have posted this before, in fact I think I did, but its worth repeating:

"GEORGE W. BUSH: THE PRESIDENT QUAYLE WE NEVER HAD!"

Again, thank you Senator Lloyd Bentsen, D-TX.

VOTE DEMOCRATIC, if for no other reason than for Senator Bentsen!

The-Voice