Paul Tsongas Forever!

[elshiva]

I always wanted to say that...

[JohnKleeb]

1. I dont know anything about him

but I hear he was a really economic conservative relatively but social liberal, I myself am more of an economic than social liberal but I am pretty well balanced all around.

[elshiva]

2. All I know is another Mass Librul who just frickin' ruled.

Anyone with more information can add it.

[JohnKleeb]

3. I know he was good on social issues/foreign policy

[elshiva]

4. Good for him

Tsongas retires in 1985, you know who takes over...

[angrydemocrat]

5. I Can Tell You What I Know But Tay Tay and Whometense Would Know More

Where I was so into Kerry because he was my hero even by the time Tsongas ran for president in '92, and I found out we had a democratic candidate that was my hero's friend I got interested in finding out more about him. Because I figured if Kerry was friends with him then there had to be something good there. So I started finding out all I could about him and tryed to catch him on TV as much as possible but most of what I found out was through my own research.

I was right this man was another great man like my hero. He had been a congressman, a senator, and a prosecutor. (I'm sure I've left out something but I don't know as much about him as I do my hero so Tay Tay will have to fill in the rest) Anyhow, he caught cancer in '84 and didn't run for re-election to the senate and that is when Kerry ran and won and has done the job ever since. Tsongas went through cancer treatments and was cured of the cancer. He ran for president in '92. He won the New Hampshire primaries but didn't do that well after that. To this day I believe it was the bad wrap he took over his health that cost him the race. because I remember some people trying to say that he was he had a relapse on his cancer and knew and was lying about it. Piss me off too! And after he died it was proven he did not have cancer when he died. So when Kerry when it come out about Kerry have cancer it just made the wheels start spinning. And I couldn't help but wonder if they wouldn't do the same shit to him but thank god they didn't.

When Tsongas lost to Clinton I was pissed. Because I still believe regardless of how good Clinton did Tsongas was better and could have done more. But that is my opinion. Tsongas while in the congress and the senate was liberal on some things others he was not. He was liberal on things such as womens rights but at the same time he was a deficit hawk. Tsongas would take on issues in that was not "popular" his own party he didn't care what others thought he did what he thought was right. Tsongas was a smart tuff cookie. So again he reminded me of Kerry and anyone like Kerry would make a good president. Tsongas was married and had 2 daughters when he died at age 55 in 1997. (I think I got that age right) He died of pneumonia.

That is what I can remember right off. As i said I don't know as much about him as I do my hero but I do know he was a whole lot like my hero in many ways and was a good friend of his and it was a sad day for many when he passed away. And I never got to vote vote for him but he was the one I was pulling for in '92 and got Clinton instead. Not meaning that was bad or anything but you would have to study the man to know. Clinton did a great job in most cases but all and all my opinion will be as it always has Tsongas was better.

[elshiva]

6. Thanks angrydemocrat.

Sorry I forgot that he is dead. That is too sad about him I look at that picture that I posted in this thread of 1985 swearing in of Kerry with Dukakis and Tsongas, and think, "God, why not? Why couldn't they have been president? All good, decent wonderful, liberal men." Too sad...

[JohnKleeb]

7. all of whom would have made way better presidents than Bush

Hey btw I got another pic of Natalie up :). Oh and can you please lemme have her, pleeeeeeeease :).

[elshiva]

8. LOL You can have her, I'm a married woman.

And of course they would have been better presidents then Dubya. They'd actually be balancing the budget and universalizing Health Care.

[JohnKleeb]

9. ha thanks

:) I win for once but maybe you can keep up the Natalie love with me, because our kind are a minority here, you know those of us who love the women.

[elshiva]

10. Natalie love bein' upholded here.

Loved her in Garden State and because of her, I'm going to see all the Star Wars prequels, even if they are cheesy. My God that woman's sexy in Star Wars.
You know I love the ladies...and the men!

[JohnKleeb]

11. Yes I know that you're bi

Good friend of mine is too.

[elshiva]

12. You are a very open-minded fellow.

[JohnKleeb]

13. I try to be

I have a gay cousin too, I am actually going to be seeing him tommorow at the wake, he's a nice guy as his partner, they have a little girl they adopted too.

[elshiva]

14. Blessings on tomorrow, sorry again about your nana.

I guess he's one reason your pro-gay marriage? Your cousin sounds nice.
I can't believe Dubya wants to take away the civil rights of good citizens like your cousin it just boggles the mind. Does he really know any queers, anyway? Does he even care about Mary Cheney and Heather Poe who raised so much money for his campaign?

[JohnKleeb]

15. Partially yes and a belief of equal rights

He claims its about protecting the sancity of marriage but you know what, we're not all the same religion, and gays should have the exact same rights as heteros. You know whats also an outrage, that gay adopation is banned in some states, thast just sickening.

[elshiva]

16. Gay adoption being banned is despicable not only

for the couples but for the orphans. It's just so sick and I don't think it's really religious to be against gays because "We're all God's children, Bob..." ( I just fainted when I heard that in the 3rd debate. What a great president Kerry would have been for queers.)

[JohnKleeb]

17. He would have been the best president for gay people ever

and he's called Bushlite, god.

[elshiva]

18. Yes, he'd've been absolutely the best president ever for gays!

Good news is Dean (knock on wood) will most definitely win the DNC Chair and be the best DNC Chair for gays.
TV pundits on PBS tonight, were like "whose this (the Dean victory), gonna be good for?" And my mom was like to me, "it's gonna be good for people like you." Amen! Thank you God.

[JohnKleeb]

19. Thats good

He really does appear to have the right stuff for that job.

[elshiva]

20. Yeah, I've loved Dean since a first heard his name mentioned

over a year ago when my cousin was working for his campaign in VT. She lives in VT and loves that man for his health care for her little ones. During the primaries, I just sorta blanked out on the others and hoped Dean would get the nomination. I totally love that he ran, even though he lost. He is sooo good.

[JohnKleeb]

21. Well you see the good in all of them which is something that is

hard for many to do. You know who I like having a blue collar background and all is Dick Gephardt, I remember him from when I was a little kid. That guy has a lesbian daughter and is obviously an old school guy but he has today's tolerant values too.

[elshiva]

22. Didn't know Gephardt had a lesbian daughter!

I'm liking him now even more! How can Mary Cheney stand it?

[JohnKleeb]

23. I dont know

Oh yeah, Gephardt has a lesbian daughter, Chrissy, he and Cheney are actually the same age, both of midwest background, and Protestants(Gep is Baptist and Cheney is a United Methodist). Yeah Gephardt is great to people like me who have a working class background, he really is someone who would have been more popular when labor was more of a popular thing though sad to say, my grandfather an NLRB employee knew people like the Reuther brothers.

[elshiva]

24. Thanks for the info. Did you support Gephardt during the primaries?

[JohnKleeb]

25. No

I started out with Kucinich then went with Kerry.

[elshiva]

26. Kucinich is awesome, too.

Love his non-violence and vegan stances. Another truly wonderful Roman Catholic politician, a real Democrat through and through. He's going to try to establish the Dept. of Peace, God bless him.

[JohnKleeb]

27. Yep and a fellow Irish Slavic American

[elshiva]

28. Yea! Nice! Nice!

[JohnKleeb]

29. Yep he's Croatian on his father's side and I am Slovene on my mom's dad

and of course Irish but I aint polish, I read hes also that.

[elshiva]

30. I am Latvian with a Slavic Jewish background on my dad's side.

So far no Eastern European-American presidents, all of them are descendants of the British Isles.

[JohnKleeb]

31. and some Germans

Kerry would have been the first Eastern European, he has Czech on his father's side, I am also Slovak, so we're neighbors lol.

[elshiva]

32. Who were the German presidents?

BTW: Like Kerry's grandparents, my grandparents changed the family name, but to actually make our name sound more German. Again, it was all about fitting in and survival.

[JohnKleeb]

33. oh Eisenhower and Hoover

The Roosevelts had some Dutch in em as well.

[elshiva]

34. Of course, duh, Einsenhower is

a German name.