Posted on 07/08/2005 7:20:50 AM PDT by Politicalities
Pancreatic cancer is pretty much a death sentence by itself...AIDs kills you in a different, slower way....
Wow. They're really mad over there.
Pretty stupid on both sides.
I'm posting the following on behalf of the lovely Nakatu X, who quit FR a short time ago (opus-free, I might add):
I heard of Andy Stephenson's death early this morning. I was one of the "junior detectives" involved in the story, although I pulled out and had PJ pull my name from the DUFU ping list midway through.
Nonetheless, I did probably contribute no small part to impeding his surgery & certainly contributed nothing to the recovery, and for that I apologize very deeply. Karma should strike me where I am now. It is too late to ask Andy for forgiveness, but please rest in peace, Andy.
Nakatu X
Not funny, not in good taste, not having a reason to be said at all. That was low.
A Fight to the End
Voting-rights activist, 43, dies.
by George Howland Jr.
Andy Stephenson in March 2004.
(Karen Steichen)
Voting-rights activist Andy Stephenson was so full of life it seems impossible that he is dead. Surrounded by his life partner, Ted Edmondson, and members of his family, Stephenson passed away on Thursday, July 7, at Seattle's Virginia Mason Medical Center. The Seattle resident was 43.
Walter Andrew Stephenson was born in El Paso, Texas. He worked as a telemarketer and was a Subway shop owner before he became concerned about issues surrounding electronic voting and ballot security in 2004. He quickly decided to run as a Democratic candidate for Washington secretary of state opposing Republican incumbent Sam Reed, on a platform calling for a voter-verified paper ballot. But Stephenson dropped out of the race to work full time with prominent election-integrity advocate Bev Harris of Renton, who leads Black Box Voting (www.blackboxvoting.org). The two activists later parted on bad terms, but Stephenson's work with Black Box Voting raised his national profile, and after he left the organization he continued grassroots lobbying with a loosely affiliated network of like-minded people over the Internet.
In person, Stephenson was a red-headed, crackerjack live wire, full of ideas and energy, chasing after every hint of impropriety by election administrators and the corporations that make voting software and hardware. During an interview, he would simultaneously smoke cigarettes, drink coffee, take phone calls, assign tasks to volunteers, condemn elected officials, and rail against Election Systems & Software, Diebold, and other voting-equipment corporations. He was a heartfelt advocate for his cause and didn't shy from confrontation with government officials and corporate officers. His passion and affability attracted a following here and on the World Wide Web, particularly among the frequenters of the progressive Web site Democratic Underground (www.democraticunderground.com).
Stephenson became ill in January, and months of treatment followed. In April, he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Like the fighter he was, Stephenson was determined to beat the disease and decided to have surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. But he was out of work and without insurance, and Hopkins requires payment in full for out-of-state, uninsured patients. So Stephenson's online community raised $50,000 for him over the Internet. San Francisco's Elisabeth Ferrari led the effort, raising the money in just 12 days. It was a tribute to his political work and another demonstration of the power of the Internet. But it also spawned a bizarre Web campaign that accused Stephenson of faking his illness to scam money (see "Cancerous Campaign," July 6). In response, a page (homepage.mac.com/benburch/Andy) was created to document his treatment.
Reaction to Stephenson's death by his Internet friends was swift. Wrote Will Pitt, in a post on Democratic Underground directed at Stephenson's accusers: "I am going to make you famous in all the worst kinds of ways. I know your names, I know your addresses, I know your IP numbers, I have screen shots and copies of every vile statement and threat you ever made. I know everything I need to know. Get ready for the ram."
Stephenson's health took a turn for the worse on Wednesday June 22, when he was admitted to Virginia Mason Medical Center with post-surgery complications. When I visited him the next day, he was still in battle mode—against his cancer and on behalf of voter rights. Over the next two weeks, his condition steadily declined. After a series of strokes, he died.
Stephenson is survived by Edmondson; his mother, Dorothy M. Stephenson; two sisters, Charlene Johns and George Ann Pye; and an extended family in Texas. He is also grieved for by friends and comrades on the Internet. Wrote Ferrari: "I'm crying like a damned fountain, but he's free now."
A memorial service will be held at Town Hall in Seattle at 1119 Eighth Ave., on Saturday, July 16, at 2 p.m.
ghowland@seattleweekly.com
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1438879/posts
I agree somewhat with Nakatu X sentiments. Andy's fundraising was probably not legally set up and probably was not completely open with the details, but he was obviously sick and he was a human being. We should be respectful of people who are sick or dead no matter how farout their political agenda may be.
Is Paypal owned by DieBold?
I don't know. I feel sorry that Andy died, but I remember those hate-filled threads the DUmmies posted cheering the deaths of Reagan and Thurmond....also threads were the majority of DUmmies were happy that Laura Ingerham (spelled wrong probably) had breast cancer or Tony Snow had colon cancer. Those people are beyond hate-filled. Put I guess I should be above them.
May Andy Stephenson (spelled right?) rest in peace.
Let them bury him and give them time to mourn. Some of the comments on this thread make me ashamed to be a freeper. Yes, I know DUh made horrible comments after Reagan's passing but does that mean we have also lower ourselves into the gutter?
Precisely.
Watch the scumbags over at DU turn this into the 2005 Wellstone Memorial.
While I know very little about this man and the situation, I have seen someone die of pancreatic cancer, and I can tell you that she wasn't doing much talking in the last days. Never the less, what does it matter?
LMAO.
Will Pitt, besides being a little coward seems to have forgotten his role in all of this.HE was the one who posted a thread questioning whether Andy (supposedly his friend) was really sick.
He was worried about his reputation and where the money went since some of his friends on other boards were asking the same questions.
Good job Will, if anyone gave momentum to the Andy is lying parade it was YOU. I don't have a link but it's probably down the memory hole although I know several people saved it.
Great friend you are Pitt!
Rest in peace Andy, may God welcome you into his arms.
I'll second that, as long as Andy believed in God. I don't really know anything about the man, except that he was from the Seattle area.
Okay, I am realtively new, but I've been reading the HUNDREDS of posts about the Andy situation.
In my opinion, I think the people handled it very well. Even if Andy was sick, it's impoirtant to stop scams before they happen when Liberals try to raise money.
The bad thing about the Andy situation is that now the DUmmys know how to raise money quickly. If Andy was scamming people (and I think he was) then it would have been MUCH EASIER to nip future Liberal fund-raiseing efforts in the bud.
Furthermore, it would likely not have been money well-spent if he were this sick.
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