Posted on 12/05/2001 4:08:35 AM PST by DaveOfBallentine
99 years of great service to South Carolina and the United States of America. http://web.thestate.com/content/columbia/2001/12/05/local/strom05.htm 'Happy birthday, dear Strom' By MICHELLE R. DAVIS Washington Bureau WASHINGTON -- Sen. Strom Thurmond was serenaded Tuesday by the vice president and Republican senators in a preview of his 99th birthday today. Thurmond made a brief appearance at a GOP policy luncheon Tuesday in the U.S. Capitol, where senators and Vice President Dick Cheney sang "Happy Birthday, dear Strom." He also received a hearty round of applause for reaching an almost unbelievable milestone. "I love all of you, and if you're women, I love you even more," said Thurmond. Later, he waved to the crowd and added: "And you look better if you're women." Thurmond, who has been using a wheelchair due to a painful hip ailment, walked into and out of the luncheon supported by a staff member on each arm. A barrage of flashes lit up the Capitol hallway as photojournalists jostled for their shots. Thurmond plans to celebrate his 99th birthday today at a private luncheon with staff members, said his spokeswoman Rebecca Fleming. Though his office will likely receive many calls wishing Thurmond a happy birthday today, it won't get the usual number of birthday cards. That's because the Senate offices have only just begun receiving mail again after the anthrax scare, and the mail is only trickling in. The oldest and longest-serving senator in history has had a difficult year, plagued by failing health and public scrutiny. He recently moved out of his Virginia townhouse and took up residence at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. A hospital spokesperson said it did not have any celebration planned for today. Though Thurmond is living in the hospital, he insists he plans to serve out the remainder of his term, which expires in January of 2003, when he will be 100 years old. Thurmond was first elected to the Senate in 1954. He also continues to cast votes regularly, following a path he has taken thousands of times from his second-floor office in the Russell Senate Building into the basement, where he takes a subway car over to the U.S. Capitol. Capitol Police Officer D.I. Johnson said he has watched Thurmond stop and shake hands and sign autographs many times during the three years he has been stationed in the basement of the Capitol near the subway cars. The South Carolina senator is someone tourists always recognize and gravitate to, he said. "It's not a Beatles type of frenzy, but people are definitely interested in him," Johnson said. Subway mechanic and driver Phil Yates called Thurmond a "very blessed man" for reaching his 99th year. He said Thurmond, known for passing out candy from his pocket to senators and tourists alike, always gives him mints. "He'll always walk up to me and tap me on the shoulder and ask how I'm doing," Yates said. "He's not uptight. He won't scold, like some of them do." Subway driver Craig Smith, who is originally from Abbeville, said when he told Thurmond where he was from when he first started his job in 1999, Thurmond was thrilled and chatted with him about the town. "I'd like to thank him for all the things he's done," said Smith. "He's been my senator all of my life." Michelle R. Davis covers Washington issues from a South Carolina perspective. Reach her at (202) 383-6023 or by e-mail at mdavis@krwashington.com.
I believe Thurmond should have passed in the last cycle as well - but, after all, it's his birthday.
Hope I reach 99. . .
Last time I looked we were still a country where someone had the right to remain in office or retire as he/she saw fit. BTW, were you demanding your main man resign when it was clear he had broken the law and committed perjury?
I can only hope that your use of chiropractic care contributed to your longevity!
Besides, he hasn't "outlived his usefulness". He makes it to his votes, and the people of South Carolina love him. He still has a lot of pull in the Senate, believe it or not, and he's quite simply a living legend. He was a WWII paratrooper, a judge, governer and senator. He's done it all. You just don't throw somebody like that overboard just because he's old and winding down.
Lighten up, and hope that nobody wants to throw you overboard when you've "outlived your usefulness." The old geezer may be 99 and have to be walked around by his aides, but he still remembers the ladies!
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