Wellstone's Way - The Wellstone Memorial Is Here!

Minneapolis Star/Tribune (aka The Red Star) ^ | 9/25/05 | Jean Hopfensperger - Report

[MplsSteve]

The Wellstone Memorial and Historic Site opened to the public Sunday, drawing an appreciative crowd of supporters -- and the late senator's famous green bus, of course -- to a remote, wooded area near Eveleth where the plane carrying the senator and seven others crashed in October 2002.

For most of the crowd Sunday, it was their first glimpse of the area where Sen. Paul Wellstone; his wife, Sheila; their daughter, Marcia Markuson; three campaign staffers, and two pilots died. They read the markers and walked the grounds with a mix of sadness and smiles.

"I didn't know how I'd react when I saw this," Mark Wellstone, the younger of the Wellstones' two sons, told a crowd of several hundred people. "But it turned out really, really nice. And it felt really good to see all the [familiar] faces today."

[MplsSteve]

Well, the Wellstone Memorial (version 4,316) is finally up and running.

There was coverage of it in tonight's local news.

I'm at a loss for words. What happened was a tragedy.

But the whole Wellstone thing has approached cult of personality status.

Opinions anyone?

[Hank Rearden]

Opinions anyone?

Useless leftie parasite.

How's that?

[general_re]

Just waiting for the inevitable "I drank the water at the Wellstone shrine and it cured my cancer!" reports....

[Jalapeno]

I think his memorial service turned political rally will always overshadow anything he did at the national level.I think it was truly a defining moment for the Democratic Party...and cost them a great many votes.

[Spruce]

I forget, what, exactly, did he accomplish in the Senate? ...<crickets>...Anyone?...<crickets>...Anyone?

[KarlInOhio]

Would George Bush have been elected president without the crassness of the Wellstone Funer-rally? Which was worse, booing Republican office holders attending it or the bringing in a Jumbotron for a memorial? How many Republican voters did it give an urgency to vote and how many Democrats did it shame?

[mv2]

the wellstone memorial service gave us the victory in 02, 04, and I predicit 06 etc...it uncovered the liberals for the whole country to see, and they didn't like it one bit. I hope they keep going.

[SteveMcKing]

Now filming, the Paul Wellstone memorial: Triumph of the Will 2

(Subtitled "Electric Boogaloo")

[SShultz460]

It's Time to Park the Bus

[Sir Francis Dashwood]

Is this their attempt at necromancy?

The funerally wasn't enough...

[spinestein]

["I didn't know how I'd react when I saw this," Mark Wellstone, the younger of the Wellstones' two sons, told a crowd of several hundred people. "But it turned out really, really nice. And it felt really good to see all the [familiar] faces today."]



"...and I'm glad to see Senator Clinton in the audience tonight, doing all she can to stem the tide of Republican extremism. And there's Ted Kennedy, standing as a bulwark against the evil conservative juggernaut, truly despicable people like MR. BUSH! BUSH WHO DESPOILS OUR ENVIRONMENT! TAKES AWAY THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN! THE RIGHTS OF AFRICAN-AMERICANS! WE NEED TO STAND TOGETHER AGAINST THIS EVIL NOW! AND VOTE FOR A DEMOCRAT! VOTE FOR ANY DEMOCRAT! WE'RE GONNA WIN! WIN! WIN! YEAH! YEAH! YEAH! YEAH! YEEEEAAAAAAHHHH!!!!"

[JennysCool]

It looks great!

[spinestein]

[Is this their attempt at necromancy?]


No. This is:
"You know, if I were a single man, I might ask that mummy out. That's a good looking mummy" —Bill Clinton, looking at "Juanita," a newly discovered Inca mummy on display at the National Geographic museum

[kenth]

[getmeouttaPalmBeachCounty_FL]

I can never get enough of this brilliant piece by Nick Anderson :)

[Hunble]

Now I know where to take a piss, the next time I visit Northern Minnesota.

[BackInBlack]

"I forget, what, exactly, did he accomplish in the Senate?"

Depends on what you mean by "accomplish." If by that you mean "get in our way" and "serve as a nuisance," I'd say yes. He held up the bankruptcy bill for like a decade or more. He shut down the Senate every time we tried to pass that bill. He also passed a pretty stupid bill with Pete Domenici involving "mental health parity," which means telling insurance companies how to run their business. He did do a good thing with a human sex trafficking bill, I'll give him that.

[BackInBlack]

"Would George Bush have been elected president without the crassness of the Wellstone Funer-rally?"

Since Bush was elected two years before Wellstone died, I'd say yes.

[sphinx]

I didn't like Wellstone's politics, but I do recall that in worker-bee polls of Senate employees while he was still alive, Jesse Helms and Paul Wellstone were regularly named the nicest Senators.

[gridlock]

People of the World, join in!
Form a Love Train, Love Train...

People all over the World, join hands!
Start a Love Train, Love Train...