December 16, 2005
In Praise of a Democrat
A true political GIANT, William Proxmire died today at the age of 90. I for one was sorry to see him retire in '89 because he was one democrat that I really liked. Liberal in some areas, but a fierce conservative when it came to government spending and encroachment into ordinary life.
Proxmire was called once, so independent that he was often considered a party of one. He almost always got elected by huge margins, seldom took any money from anyone and often had election expenses of less than $1000.00.
His Golden Fleece awards were absolutely priceless in terms of humor, grace, and caustic wit and absolute correctness. For example, in 1975, Proxmire awarded the Golden Fleece to the Selective Service System and Army Corps of Engineers For a $98,029 contract awarded to Kenneth Coffey to study the all-volunteer army concept in foreign countries two years after the all-volunteer army had already been put into effect in the U.S.
On one occasion, he decried a study of how do humans fall in love and he quipped "I don't want to know the answer."
Other Proxmire gems:
The last few years have been my happiest. I'm happy in the years that most people are blue and sad and waiting to die. I don't feel that a bit. Smiling has a lot to do with it. You can just lift your spirits by smiling a little bit.""The biggest danger for a politician is to shake hands with a man who is physically stronger, has been drinking and is voting for the other guy."
"I have spent my career trying to get Congressmen to spend the people's money as if it were their own. But I have failed."
"Power always has to be kept in check; power exercised in secret, especially under the cloak of national security, is doubly dangerous"
Proxmire was so anti-spending, he often earned top marks from the National Taxpayers Union, an admittedly conservative organization aimed at reducing taxes and government spending. After retirement, Proxmire served on the board of the NTU. Not bad for a "liberal."
William Proxmire , 1915-2005. Requiescat In Pace
Posted by GM Roper at December 16, 2005 08:42 PM | TrackBackCheck out a funny site dedicated to the absurdity and satire nature of saying "It's All George Bush's Fault!"
http://www.itsallgeorgebushsfault.com
Regards,
Notta Libb
Posted by Notta Libb at December 17, 2005 01:20 AM
"Anyone like Proxmire today would be roundly condemned by the Democrats, just as they do Lieberman. No one will replace him. I always enjoyed his Golden Fleece Awards, but, unfortunately, they had had no shaming effect on Congress. It's nice, and appropriate, of you to remember him here."
Posted by Woody at December 17, 2005 07:24 AM
I grew up in a conservative Democrat family, and Proxmire was more their kind of Dem than those we see today, suborned by the liberals whom they've allowed to dismantle their party.
Unless this country goes stark, raving bonkers, the Dems will never become as powerful as they once were unless they DO find some more Proxmires.
If by chance enough Dems grow spines like Lieberman has and Proxmire had, there could be a rift that could lead to a kind of "civil war" in their own party and a split could ensue, the libs a separate party, somewhat similar to the Sharon debacle. I don't see that happening anytime soon.
Posted by Seth at December 17, 2005 10:14 AM
William Proxmire was a gadfly who tried to shake up the status quo and highlight the absurdities of Congressional business as usual. American politics has been the poorer since he retired, both fiscally and spiritually. I've certainly missed his presence and his Golden Fleece awards. He was that rarest of politicians of whom it could be truly said that he put his money where his mouth was.
Posted by civil truth at December 17, 2005 11:40 AM
Proxmire was the exception to the rule for liberals, huh? A liberal with integrity, to my way of thinking.
And I loved his dry wit too--especially when he pointed out the absurdities of politics.
Good post, GM!
Posted by Always On Watch at December 17, 2005 12:00 PM
Proxmire was someone I barely remember, before my time. But from what you're saying here, he sounds like a Democrat who had priciples and a spine, who put America before politics. Wish we had more of that now.
Now I'm gonna look up and see what I can find about him.
Posted by Raven at December 17, 2005 12:19 PM
Yes, he was a true old-style Democrat, NOT the Democrat of today at all. If he were to join politics today, he's be a Republican -- and then would still be annoyed at them.
Posted by Ogre at December 17, 2005 04:03 PM
GM,
Came over here to see how you were doing after your departure from MC's blog (which, I much admit was getting really looney - the only good thing was M's great writing skills)..
Anyway, hate to diss the recently dead, but Proxmire was one of the worst things to happen to American science. His golden fleece awards were, I'm afraid, designed to get him headlines because the targets sounded silly.
Unfortunately, many of his targets were legitimate scientific programs. While the love life of some tropical amphibian may make a good headline as "golden fleece," the study might be related to finding a new drug. Or it might just be filling in our understanding of the world.
My father is a scientist (retired "distinguished professor", member of NAS, winner of the Australia prize, etc) and he despised Proxmire for exactly those reasons.
NOTE: As far as I can tell, I did a "preview" and then a "post" and had it fail because I had posted without waiting long enough. Sounds like your Movable Type has a bug.
Posted by John Moore at December 18, 2005 06:00 PM
Check out what a "sailor and conservative human rights activist" says:
"Sen. Proxmire gave over 3,000 speeches over 19 years in support of the US ratifying the Genocide Convention. President Ronald Reagan finally signed it into law in 1988, and sadly, the US is now conviently ignoring it in regards to the Darfur genocide."
http://fdnf.typepad.com/live_from_the_fdnf/2005/12/honoring_proxmi.html
One way of honoring the Senator would be to draw attention to Darfur.
Posted by Joerg at December 20, 2005 05:08 PM
