Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Family Spokesman: George McGovern dead at age 90
townhall.com ^ | 10/21/12 | AP

Posted on 10/21/2012 5:03:15 AM PDT by NJRighty

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — George S. McGovern, a proud liberal who argued fervently against the Vietnam War as a senator from South Dakota and suffered one of the most crushing defeats in presidential election history against Richard Nixon in 1972, died before dawn Sunday. He was 90.

A spokesman for McGovern's family, Steve Hildebrand, told The Associated Press by telephone that McGovern died at 5:15 a.m. Sunday at a hospice in Sioux Falls, surrounded by family and lifelong friends.

(Excerpt) Read more at townhall.com ...


TOPICS: Breaking News; News/Current Events; US: South Dakota
KEYWORDS: mcgovern; nixon; obituary; southdakota
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 121-126 next last
To: NJRighty

I am struck by the tone and tenor of respect on this thread. Can you picture Democrat Underground behaving like this?


21 posted on 10/21/2012 6:00:23 AM PDT by Lazamataz (The Pravda Press has gone from 'biased' straight on through to 'utterly bizarre'.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

Comment #22 Removed by Moderator

To: jalisco555
I recall he was totally surprised at how little profit a business made and how much tax had to be paid on that profit.

He had pretty much gone through his entire life not realizing a business had expenses. He honestly thought a meal you paid for in a restaurant was almost pure profit for the restaurant.

23 posted on 10/21/2012 6:03:22 AM PDT by IMR 4350
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: Lazamataz

And then there’s reply 22...


24 posted on 10/21/2012 6:06:48 AM PDT by Delhi Rebels (There was a row in Silver Street - the regiments was out.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: NJRighty

I was one of the few who voted for him, not because he would have made a good President, but because I was convinced Nixon and Agnew were crooks. Which they were.

That was an election with no good choices. None.


25 posted on 10/21/2012 6:18:16 AM PDT by Jedidah
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Delhi Rebels; CaribCarter
Obviously a n00b, maybe a troll.

Hey CaribCarter, we don't play obit threads like that. If dude dies, leave him be on that thread. Other threads, fair game.

Dig it. Learn it. Love it.

26 posted on 10/21/2012 6:19:06 AM PDT by Lazamataz (The Pravda Press has gone from 'biased' straight on through to 'utterly bizarre'.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: jalisco555
He helped seed the the crop of socialism building to the crescendo of insanity we are witnessing today....he won't be missed in my household!!!
27 posted on 10/21/2012 6:19:55 AM PDT by ontap
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Holly_P

It was a matter of character. The insecure and corrupt do it because they CAN. Power is dangerous in the hands of such men.


28 posted on 10/21/2012 6:21:13 AM PDT by Jedidah
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: Holly_P

I wasn’t around back then but I’ve never understood why Nixon thought he had to pull the illegal stuff, when he was roundly kicking McGovern’s ass anyway.


Great point. Either they were idiots or there is more to the story that we still don’t know. Probably both are true.


29 posted on 10/21/2012 6:21:34 AM PDT by 2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: Lazamataz

In 1985, McGovern was lecturing at the University of Innsbruck. A director of Austrian television’s state-owned stationed contacted him to ask if he would do an interview for a documentary he was producing on Austria in World War II. He wanted McGovern to talk about what it was like bombing Austrian targets. McGovern was not inclined but finally let himself be talked into it. A woman reporter did the interview. She said that Senator McGovern was known around the world for his opposition to the war in Vietnam, and especially the bombing of South and North Vietnam. Yet he had been a bomber pilot in World War II. The reporter asked, “Senator, did you ever regret bombing beautiful cities like Vienna, Salzburg, Innsbruck, and others?”

McGovern answered, “Well, nobody thinks that war is a lovely affair. It is humanity at its worst, it’s a breakdown of normal communication, and it is a very savage enterprise. But on the other hand there are issues that sometimes must be decided by warfare after all else fails...I thought Adolf Hitler was a madman who had to be stopped.

“So, my answer to your question is no. I don’t regret bombing strategic targets in Austria. I do regret the damage that was done to innocent people. And there was one bomb I’ve regretted all these years.”

The reporter snapped that up. “Tell us about it.”

McGovern told her about the bomb that had stuck in the bomb bay door and had to be jettisoned, on March 14, 1945. “To my sorrow it hit a peaceful little Austrian farmyard at high noon and maybe led to the death of some people in that family. I regret that all the more because it was the day I learned my wife had given birth to our first child and the thought went through my mind then and on many, many days since then, that we brought a young baby into the world and probably killed someone else’s baby or children.”

When the documentary appeared on Austrian TV, the station received a call from an Austrian farmer. He said he had seen and heard McGovern. he knew it was his farm that was hit, because it was high noon on a clear day and exactly as McGovern described the incident.

“I want you to tell him,” the man went on, “that no matter what other Austrians think, I despised Adolf Hitler. We did see the bomber coming. I got my wife and children out of the house and we hid in a ditch and no one was hurt. And because of our attitude about Hitler, I thought at the time that if bombing our farm reduced the length of that war by one hour or one minute, it was well worth it.”

The television station called McGovern and told him what the farmer had said. For McGovern, it was “an enormous release and gratification. It seemed to just wipe clean a slate.”


30 posted on 10/21/2012 6:22:29 AM PDT by Alas Babylon!
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

Comment #31 Removed by Moderator

To: Lazamataz

You are right Laz. du threw a virtual cyber party when Reagan died.


32 posted on 10/21/2012 6:25:29 AM PDT by catfish1957 (My dream for hope and change is to see the punk POTUS in prison for treason)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: NJRighty

Family press release in 3...2...1 —

George’s death-bed wish was that the country would “not turn back now” and reelect Barak Obama in November.


33 posted on 10/21/2012 6:26:50 AM PDT by kevao (Is your ocean any lower than it was four years ago?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: CaribCarter; Admin Moderator; Sidebar Moderator
No, I am not a moderator, but I like to assist them informally from time to time.

Furthermore, if you have been a freeper for 15 years, you already KNOW we don't beat up on the dead on the obit threads.

Also, if you have been a freeper for 15 years, you also KNOW that having more than one screen name is verboten.

Finally, if you have been a freeper for 15 years, you have access to a time machine. FR has only been active since late 1998.

I'm going to ping post 22 for removal.

34 posted on 10/21/2012 6:30:20 AM PDT by Lazamataz (The Pravda Press has gone from 'biased' straight on through to 'utterly bizarre'.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 31 | View Replies]

To: catfish1957

I have to admit, I broke the informal FR rule, and posted a nastygram when Ted Kennedy died.


35 posted on 10/21/2012 6:31:57 AM PDT by Lazamataz (The Pravda Press has gone from 'biased' straight on through to 'utterly bizarre'.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 32 | View Replies]

To: NJRighty
One may disagree with his politics but never doubt his sincerity and bravery. He flew a B-24 for the 5th AF during WWII and completed his 25 missions over some of the most defended targets in Germany, Romania, and Austria. The man served the AF with honor and class; he was a true patriot. RIP George.
36 posted on 10/21/2012 6:32:41 AM PDT by vetvetdoug
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Jedidah

More or less like today’s, eh ?


37 posted on 10/21/2012 6:35:50 AM PDT by Eric in the Ozarks (In the game of life, there are no betting limits)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]

To: Lazamataz
I think I did too. Problem is that 95% of our dim enemy has some redeeming qualities that deserves some level of decorum.

Sleazy perps like Teddy deserve our contempt .... even in death.

38 posted on 10/21/2012 6:36:56 AM PDT by catfish1957 (My dream for hope and change is to see the punk POTUS in prison for treason)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 35 | View Replies]

To: Alas Babylon!
What an amazing story!

Wars are waged by men with consciences.

This is why the next 100 years will usher in a horrible time. Machines have no conscience. And it will be machines who will wage war in the next 100 years. The results will be hideous.

39 posted on 10/21/2012 6:38:16 AM PDT by Lazamataz (The Pravda Press has gone from 'biased' straight on through to 'utterly bizarre'.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 30 | View Replies]

To: Alas Babylon!

That is a remarkable story! Thank you for posting this.


40 posted on 10/21/2012 6:42:28 AM PDT by jalisco555 ("My 80% friend is not my 20% enemy" - Ronald Reagan)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 30 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 121-126 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson