Neat Article on Fritz Hollings (WP)

[JohnKleeb]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A31174-2004Oct13.html
Fritz is more moderate than your average dem but its nice to have had a democratic seat from South Carolina for so long and he's a good guy, reminds me a bit of my own grandfather.

Sen. Fritz Hollings, the 82-year-old South Carolina Democrat, is sitting on his office sofa, telling stories in his inimitable style, which is funny and caustic. Suddenly, his eyes close and his chin drops to his chest. He looks like a man who's about to drool on his impeccable blue-and-white pinstripe shirt.

But he's not really sleeping. He's demonstrating what doddering old senators look like when they've hung around too long, like the late Alabama Democrat John J. Sparkman, who served until he was a sickly 79, or Strom Thurmond, the legendary South Carolina Democrat-turned-Dixiecrat-turned-Republican who served until he was 100.



At 82, Sen. Earnest F. "Fritz" Hollings is retiring sharp-tongued as ever: Of George Bush, he says, "He just likes the politics. He likes to get elected. He likes Air Force One." (Marvin Joseph - The Washington Post)



"I've seen 'em," Hollings says, his eyes now twinkling mischievously. "I've seen Sparkman falling asleep in his seat. I've seen others the same way. Poor Strom in his wheelchair. . . . You lose your effectiveness. I've been elected seven times, and now it's time to go home."

So, after 38 years in the Senate, Ernest F. "Fritz" Hollings is heading home to Charleston with his wife, Peatsy. Unfortunately he'll be taking his famous tart tongue with him. Hollings's feisty independent streak and his cutting wit have inspired countless newspaper writers to call him "tart-tongued." He grumbles about that phrase -- he's a world-class grumbler -- but, truth be told, he is pretty tart-tongued.

[Waverley_Hills_Hiker]

1. I remember when he ran in 1988, I think...i was a supporter...

....sort of an underdog candidate....but he made a great comment.

There was this big cake shaped like the White House at some campaign event, and he quipped, looking at it, "Thats about as close as old Fritz is going to get to the White House".

[JohnKleeb]

3. 1984 he's more moderate than most of our guys

but thats just because of who he is and who he represents but I think he has a lot of wit and he's to the point, he reminds me a lot of my own grandfather, my granddaddy isn't southern like he is but they're both of greatest generation era. I loved how he refers to bob jones university.

The folks who run Bob Jones University, the controversial Christian college in South Carolina: "Jackasses."
Simple yet to the point.

[Waverley_Hills_Hiker]

2. Heres a good Fritz-ism!

When Hollings denounced free trade as a threat to his state's textile industry in a 1990 television interview, reporter Sam Donaldson asked the senator where he'd bought his fancy suit.

"The same place you bought your wig, Sam," Hollings shot back.

[JohnKleeb]

4. haha

thats great.

[AlCzervik]

5. One of my favorite fritz quotes is something like

"If you built more schools you'd need less prisons". He should do a voice for a big bear with a southern accent in a animated movie.

[JohnKleeb]

6. thats great

hah I could see that, hey Bobby Bird acted in a movie.

[fujiyama]

7. The one incident I remember hearing about

is where he was in a campaign rally with Kerry and he started going off about "Chinamen" (I think it was in reference to jobs being moved overseas). Well, as you could imagine, Kerry and some others started getting uncomfortable with his comments. Then Kerry awkwardly joked with an Asian American in the audience trying to break the ice. I'll look for an article about the event. One good thing is that as a senator from a conservative state, he didn't mind showing up with Kerry at a rally. It's great to know that some senators aren't all ashamed of this ticket. I heard that in some states various senate candidates are afraid to be seen with KErry. Granted Fritz wasn't running again for his seat, but still it was great that he was with him.

I'm not saying that Fritz is a racist but I won't defend the comment (though I found the incident itself amusing). Either way, he certainly seemed like a goofy old guy. I'm glad he kept that seat in democratic hands till now. It would be great if we could keep hold of his seat.

[JohnKleeb]

8. Yeah I think you're right

Not a racist but has his moments, my granddaddy does the same thing, he's no racist but he says things like that, I think its just a thing many people with that background say, not people of that generation but people who were of humble backgrounds. Hollings according to that article was one of the first southern governors to support integration, I thought it was a nice article honestly, Fritz isn't as liberal as I want a democrat then again I am a far lefty heh, he really has some good comments on the right wing fucktards. He also was an early backer of Kerry too.

[fujiyama]

10. Being a minority

I suppose it would make sense if I were offended by these kind of ignorant statemens (like Hollings), but I feel it's important to look at a person's entire life history and judge them not by one or two statements. IIRC didn't Hollings originally support segregation a while back and didn't he originally even put the confederate flag on the capital building? That might have been from a republican source though.

That's why I have some respect for people like Hollings and Byrd.. I know these people made mistakes earlier in their life, but it seems like they learned their mistake and tried to make up for it later in some ways. For example, I've been very grateful for Byrd speaking out against the war, and recently the administration in general (regarding things like the PATRIOT Act, etc).

[JohnKleeb]

11. I think he originally ran as a segerationist

but according to that article, some attorney for the opposite side said "How could you have fought in Europe and came home and defend this", and that hit him. I dont know if he supported the flag or not. I can forgive em too because their pasts while not pleasant, they have redeemed themselves. For instance last I read Byrd has a 90 something from the NAACP, while Trent Lott has like a 10 or something. Hell my political hero, RFK once worked for Joe McCarthy and I forgive that.

[JohnKleeb]

9. hah look at this gem

"Well, it's easy to rate who's the most inadequate," he says. "And that's the present president. Jesus! He doesn't want to be president. He just likes the politics. He likes to get elected. He likes Air Force One. He starts out nearly every day with a fundraiser. He appears at some police station or some fortified something with policemen and firemen. You know, you gotta get the right pictures for the 7 o'clock news. Then he comes in and works out and sees a movie and goes to sleep. And he allows Condoleezza and Cheney and Rumsfeld to run things."