Free Republic

Eugene McCarthy and William Proxmire are dead. So, it seems, is the kind of maverick politics the two Democratic former senators represented. The process that allowed such men to hold public office in the first place isn't looking very healthy either. With few exceptions, the men and women who hold public office are made from just three templates—red-team players, blue-team players and risk-averse moderates who confuse pragmatism with high principle lurking somewhere in between. What to make of a liberal icon who endorsed Ronald Reagan or a progressive Wisconsin Democrat who crusaded tirelessly against wasteful government spending? Today, such an...

Former Sen. Proxmire of Wisc. Dies By FREDERIC J. FROMMER, Associated Press Writer 8 minutes ago Former Wisconsin Sen. William Proxmire, a political maverick who became Congress' leading scourge of big spending and government waste, has died. The 90-year-old Proxmire, who suffered from Alzheimer's disease, died around 1 a.m. EST Thursday at Copper Ridge, a convalescent home in Sykesville, Md., Copper Ridge spokeswoman Mindy Brandt said. She said she could not provide any details about his death. Over the years, the rebel Democrat developed an image of penny-pinching populism that played well with his homestate voters. But his support of...

Wikipedia is reporting that he passed away yesterday. They had the scoop on Andrea Dworkin so I'm inclined to believe them. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Proxmire