Obits

Standup comic Bernie Mac died this morning of complications from pneumonia, after being admitted to Northwestern Hospital on August 3 . From the Chicago Trib:

Comedian and Chicago native Bernie Mac died early Saturday morning from complications due to pneumonia, his publicist confirmed.

Mac, 50, had been hospitalized for about a week at Northwestern Hospital, according to his spokeswoman. A few years ago, Mac disclosed that he suffered from sarcoidosis, a rare autoimmune disease that causes inflammation in tissue, most often in the lungs.

The Trib does a nice job on Mac's biography.

The death of a King of Comedy, at such a young age, is undeniably tragic. Mac was an entertainer with a rare gift.

Bernie Mac came under fire for an appearance at a July 11 Barack Obama fundraiser. The candidate later released a statement condemning Mac's remarks as "innappropriate."

At the time, I had decided not to report on the incident, because there was no video or transcript of the remarks. Here are my thoughts on the event, and on Bernie Mac.

The pages of Political Machine have been remiss in their lack of attention to the death of Alexander Solzhenitsyn. Though a writer by trade, the critic of Soviet tyranny whipped the political world to attention with his stark descriptions of Russian brutality. Solzhenitsyn's death earlier this week gives the world pause to consider the state of political affairs at the global level.

I've not yet undertaken Solzhenitsyn's landmark novel, "The Gulag Archipelago," for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize and also exile from his native country. I have, however, made my way through "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich." Both novels depict the realities of life in the Soviet gulags - horrifying, slave-labor concentration camps. I remember that reading the book, imagining the Siberian miseries of the freezing worker-prisoners, made me involuntarily shudder with chill. Such was the power of Solzhenitsyn to convey realities via the mere arrangement of words.

Solzhenitsyn was a complex individual, particularly admired by Western conservatives. His contempt of Sovietism did not slacken his criticism of Western secularism, and his experiences with socialist tyranny only strengthened his recourse to Russian patriotism and Orthodox devotion. WaPo's Masha Lipman compares Solzhenitsyn's "courage and selfless devotion ... to that of early Christians," though Anne Applebaum reminds that, upon the pilgrim's return to Russia after 20 years of exile, "he was first welcomed, then forgotten."

Solzhenitsyn contributed to the dawn of a new day in Russia. Yet, in many ways, he also reflects many of the aspects which were not carried into the revolution. His life, as well as his writings, display the course of events which molded (and failed to mold) the present age of Russia and the modern world. His life and works are worthy of modern consideration.

Heartbreaking news in the wake of the death of Tim Russert.

Former White House press secretary Tony Snow -- who once told reporters "I'm a very lucky guy" -- died at the age of 53 early Saturday after a second battle with cancer.

...

President Bush said Saturday that he and first lady Laura Bush were "deeply saddened" by Snow's death.

"The Snow family has lost a beloved husband and father. And America has lost a devoted public servant and a man of character," the president said in a statement.

"It was a joy to watch Tony at the podium each day."

I had the great opportunity to see Tony Snow on the stump at a fundraiser here in Cincinnati. He was absolutely fantastic, authentic, and with charisma. He also had local roots here and the crowd loved him. His service as a press secretary was a huge asset to the Bush administration.

He was also a favorite stand in for Rush Limbaugh and an excellent commentator on Fox News. To say he will be missed would be an enormous understatement.

"Monday was sunny. And Eason was out of a job."

L.F. Eason III, a 29-year veteran of the state Department of Agriculture and life-long Democrat, had no issues asking his staff at the North Carolina Standards Laboratory to lower the facility's flags to half-staff for former senator Ted Sanford or Ronald Reagan. He didn't need to act on it though - it rained on both days. The News & Observer reported yesterday that Eason retired rather than order his staff to lower the flag for the recently deceased former North Carolina Senator Jesse Helms.

But this time Eason didn't believe this politician deserved the respect afforded by lowering the flag in his honor. In an email to his staff the night before this chore was to be performed, Eason informed employees, "Regardless of any executive proclamation, I do not want the flags at the North Carolina Standards Laboratory flown at half staff to honor Jesse Helms any time this week".

After an employee called Eason's superior in another location in Raleigh, Mr. Eason was given an ultimatum - order the lowering of the flags or retire. Eason's wife and co-worker's tried to reason with him that the lab and the flags belonged to the state of North Carolina. but he wouldn't budge:

Let's get to the meat of the controversy around the late great Senator No: Jesse Helms.

It's not because he was a racist bigot in his years as a Southern Democrat. Oh yes, you didn't realize that from Ken's diatribe did you? That when Senator Helms was saying those hateful things, he was a Democrat, as were nearly all of the racist segregationist dixiecrats of the era.

In fact, the person who led the filibuster against the civil rights bill of 1964 and was a full member of the KKK is still a Democrat and a lionized member of the Democratic party. I haven't seen Ken Layne write any screeds against Senator Roberty Byrd or threaten to kick him out of the party lately. So the problem with Jesse Helms can't be his segregationist past, or else the Democrats would be craven hypocrites on this issue.

From the WSJ today:

Indeed, the mainstream media rarely put Helms's career in context the way they did, for example, with Sam Ervin, a Democrat who served with Helms in the Senate from North Carolina before retiring in 1975. Ervin was the leading legal strategist against Civil Rights legislation, and he largely crafted the Southern Manifesto against Brown v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court case that ruled school segregation unconstitutional. But Ervin was the man who chaired the Watergate hearings that helped bring down Richard Nixon, and his views on civil rights were almost never mentioned. Both Helms and Ervin were courtly, principled conservatives. Only one became a cartoon media villain.

No their real problem and the root of their disgust with Jesse Helms was his success at stopping liberal policies, and even worse, he might just be responsible for giving us the Reagan revolution:

Two events early in his Senate career showcased Helms's unflinching nature and his political skills. In 1975, he engineered a visit to the U.S. by Soviet dissident Alexander Solzhenitsyn over the objections of the State Department, which forbade its own employees from attending a major Solzhenitsyn speech in Washington. State also blocked a proposed visit to the White House, leading Helms to accuse President Gerald Ford of "cowering timidly for fear of offending Communists."

That incident helped spur Reagan to challenge Ford for the GOP nomination the next year. Reagan lost the first five primaries, and he entered the North Carolina contest broke and under pressure to pull out. But Helms and his chief strategist Tom Ellis refused to give up. They employed Helms's huge, direct-mail list to build a grass-roots army of volunteers and raise money to air 30-minute speeches by Reagan across the state.

Emphasizing the Panama Canal "giveaway" and smaller government, Reagan won an upset victory and was able to battle Ford all the way to the GOP convention. He showed such strength at the convention that Ford invited him to deliver off-the-cuff remarks to the delegates. Reagan was so inspiring that some of Ford's own delegates exclaimed, "We just nominated the wrong candidate." Reagan later acknowledged how Helms's intervention rescued his political career.

We're going to hear a lot of selective outrage about Jesse Helms and his racist past and whatever, but remember this, he was hated because he was a successful conservative warrior who stood up for what he believed in and got things done. He was the bane of liberals from the seventies on and he has not been forgiven for that sin. And even worse: He couldn't have cared less what the national media thought of him.

RIP Senator No.

Former Senator Jesse A. Helms, Jr., died today after a "period of declining health," according to a spokesman. He was 86.

He was born on October 18, 1921. He served in the US Senate from 1972-2003, after which he retired. During his Senate career, he was an outspoken, controversial figure. His name is synonymous with "Old South"-style politics.

The New York Times had this reaction, from former Senator Bob Dole:

"He was a conservative icon," Bob Dole, the former senator and Republican presidential candidate, said in an interview on CNN. "He was a good, decent human being."

But Mr. Dole, known for his wry sense of humor, acknowledged that Mr. Helms was not universally admired on Capitol Hill. "If there was a liberal meeting going on and someone announced that Jesse Helms was coming, the place would have cleared out in 20 seconds," he joked. He added that although he disagreed with Mr. Helms on civil rights, he did not consider the senator to be a bigot. "Was Jesse Helms a racist? I never spotted that in him," Mr. Dole said. "Jesse had black staff members. I could never quite figure it out."

MSNBC had this:

If you want to know what a moronic word "lifestyle" is, all you have to do is realize that in a technical sense, Atilla the Hun had an active outdoor lifestyle. – George Carlin

A legend passed on yesterday. From AFP:

Irreverent US comedian George Carlin, who became known as a voice of the 1970s counterculture and was one of the country's best known funny men, died on Sunday aged 71, US media reported.

The Grammy award winner, whose career spanned five decades, died of heart failure, his publicist Jeff Abraham told the New York Times.

Carlin had a history of heart problems and passed away in Santa Monica, California after checking into the hospital with chest pains.

As a former stand-up comic, his passing has special meaning for me, and so I feel honored to be able to pay him tribute. Although he is gone from the realm of the flesh, his spirit lives on, no more evident than in my thoughts as I read that article:

NBC News Washington Bureau Chief and host of Meet the Press has died suddenly today while at work at the NBC Washintgon Bureau.

MSNBC reports that Russert, 58, was at work recording voice-overs for Meet the Press when he suddenly collapsed and died of an apparent heart attack. Tim is survived by his wife, Maureen Orth, his son Luke and his dad "Big Russ".

We at Political Machine offer our heartfelt sympathy to Tim's family, friends and co-workers. Our parent Web site, AOL News has full coverage here. MSNBC has continuing coverage and is offering this video for tribute:

The legendary Charlton Heston, whose iconic acting roles defined an era of cinema, has passed away at the age of 84.

"If Hollywood had a Mt. Rushmore," said publicist Michael Levine, who represented Heston for 20 years, "Heston's face would be on it," Heston's epic films include "The Ten Commandments," "El Cid," "55 Days at Peking," "Planet of the Apes," "Soylent Green," and 11 Academy Award winning "Ben-Hur," for which he won the 1959 best actor Oscar. Heston proudly cited the host of historical figures he portrayed, including Andrew Jackson, Moses, El Cid, John the Baptist, Michelangelo, General Gordon, Marc Antony, Cardinal Richelieu, Henry VIII and, of course, Ben-Hur.

The actor later transitioned into an industry and political leader. He served as president of the Screen Actors Guild and chairman of the American Film Institute, marched in the civil rights movement of the 1950s and served as president of the National Rifle Association. In 2003, Heston was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.

Happily, we are left with a lengthy legacy of Heston's on-screen work. A mandatory viewing of Ben-Hur is as central to my Easter celebration as Sunday mass and ham at dinner. If you've not yet enlightened yourself to Heston's brilliant work, hours (and hours) of thrilling joy await!

The New York Times reports that photojournalist Dith Pran, subject of the film, The Killing Fields, has died at the age of 65:

Dith Pran, a photojournalist for The New York Times whose gruesome ordeal in the killing fields of Cambodia was re-created in a 1984 movie that gave him an eminence he tenaciously used to press for his people's rights, died in New Brunswick, N.J., on Sunday. He was 65 and lived in Woodbridge, N.J.

The cause was pancreatic cancer, which had spread, said his friend Sydney H. Schanberg.

Anyone unfamiliar with Pran's story should check out The Killing Fields, but be prepared for a sobering, shattering experience. Pran outlived the actor who portrayed him, Dr. Haing Ngor, himself an escapee of Cambodia's Khmer Rouge. Ngor was murdered in as unjust a fashion as I can imagine, by a street gang who shot him when he, after surrendering his Rolex, refused to give the thieves a locket containing a photo of his late wife.

I can only hope that Pran's death was more peaceful. The Times did a fine job of reporting on Pran's life. I want to spend a minute telling you what Pran meant to me.