RIP Former Democratic U.S. Sen. Howard Metzenbaum

[Blue Diadem]

I so wish more of our Senators had your backbone. Thank you for fighting and winning and making our country a better place for us.



http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080313/NEWS13/310273183/-1/NEWS

snip: During 18 years on Capitol Hill, until his retirement in 1995, Metzenbaum came to be known as "Senator No" and "Headline Howard" for his abilities to block legislation and get publicity for himself.

He was a cantankerous firebrand who didn't need a microphone to hold a full auditorium spellbound while dropping rhetorical bombs on big oil companies, the insurance industry, savings and loans, and the National Rifle Association, to name just a few favorite targets.

Unabashedly liberal, the former labor lawyer and union lobbyist considered himself a champion of workers and was a driving force behind the law requiring 60-days notice of plant closings.

When other liberals shied away from that label, Metzenbaum embraced it, winning re-election in 1988 from Ohio voters who chose Republicans for governor and president, and by wider margins than either George Voinovich or George H.W. Bush.

[islandmkl]

1. "firebrand"......

what a fine word....

man, could we use one, JUST ONE, of those today...

don't mention any candidates or potential examples...if there was a true firebrand in our party we would be hearing from him daily.....