Community Chat

[Pearlee]

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@deepwaterdotter wrote:

@Pearlee   Thank you for your attention, I have reworded my thread title to reflect your kind suggestion. 

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@deepwaterdotter  I didn't suggest anything. 

[Oznell]

I just loved him, quite honestly.   Another thing I savored about Bob Dole, besides his courage, sacrifice, and his direct, down-to-earth quality, was his alertness and interest in the world around him, which persisted to the end.

Some may know that the late, fabulous, mercurial comedian Norm Macdonald brilliantly impersonated Senator Dole on Saturday Night Live.   He had all his little mannerisms down, including Dole's tongue-in-cheek habit of referring to himself in the third person, as in "Bob Dole wouldn't stand for that", etc.

Well, when Macdonald was taken from us, far too soon last fall,  Bob Dole tweeted out, and did that "third person" thing again, in tribute to Norm-- 

"Norm.... was a great talent, and I loved laughing with him on SNL.   *Bob Dole* will miss Norm Macdonald."

Everyone loved Dole's sharp, often self-deprecating wit, and it is coming out in the tributes being paid to him today.  I loved hearing Brit Hume, who knew him well, talk about how funny he was. 

[haddon9]

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@Jordan2 wrote:

I actually wasn't sure he was still alive. I feel going in your sleep is probably the best, most painless way to go, you may not be aware of it. May he Rest In Peace and may his memories be a blessing to his family.

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I feel the same way....thought he had gone a few years ago.  However going in your sleep is the best way to go. 

Condolences for his family.

[cimeranrose]

RIP Senator Dole and condolences to his wife Elizabeth. He loved his country.

Thank you for the nice pictures @Oznell .

[golding76]

From an Associated Press release, the following paragraphs offer a tidy summation of what Senator represented and accomplised:

  During his 36-year career on Capitol Hill, Dole became one of the most influential legislators and party leaders in the Senate, combining a talent for compromise with a caustic wit, which he often turned on himself but didn’t hesitate to turn on others, too.

He shaped tax policy, foreign policy, farm and nutrition programs and rights for the disabled, enshrining protections against discrimination in employment, education and public services in the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Today’s accessible government offices and national parks, sidewalk ramps and the sign-language interpreters at official local events are just some of the more visible hallmarks of his legacy and that of the fellow lawmakers he rounded up for that sweeping civil rights legislation 30 years ago.

Dole devoted his later years to the cause of wounded veterans, their fallen comrades at Arlington National Cemetery and remembrance of the fading generation of World War II vets.

Thousands of old soldiers massed on the National Mall in 2004 for what Dole, speaking at the dedication of the World War II Memorial there, called “our final reunion.” He’d been a driving force in its creation.

“Our ranks have dwindled,” he said then. “Yet if we gather in the twilight it is brightened by the knowledge that we have kept faith with our comrades.”

Well done, Senator Dole

[Kachina624]

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@Oznell wrote:

Oh, and this image is fun-- shows his cute relationship with wife Elizabeth Dole, and his playful irrepressible humor, that would always find a way to come out.   He could also be devastatingly deadpan.

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@Oznell   He was quite witty.  I remember in the late 60s when, as a presidential candidate, he was asked why he wanted the job by a reporter.  His response was, "it's inside work with no heavy lifting."

That's the exact response blue-collar job applicants often gave when describing their dream jobs.  I often wondered how Dole knew that? 

[Oznell]

Not everyone may have heard of Bob Dole's heroic action in the latter part of the war, which maimed him and changed his life forever.

In 1945, in northern Italy, Dole was trying to rescue a fellow fallen soldier, when he was severely injured, hit in his spinal cord, back and shoulder.

He remained paralyzed, face down, for hours on the field before medical help could arrive.

The former student-athlete spent two and a half years in the hospital.  He lost a kidney, the use of his right arm, the use of all but a few fingers on his left hand, and his shoulder became nonfunctioning, among other injuries.

He sustained many failed surgeries trying to restore the use of his arm.  Later, he would carry a pen in his hand so as not to embarrass those who tried to shake his hand, not knowing of his disability.

In the late Forties, doggedly trying to rehab his injured body at his parents' house.

[Oznell]

@Kachina624,  that story you gave is such a good example of his dry humor.  He was from humble, small-town Kansas beginnings himself, and would be very familiar, and comfortable with, the blue collar perspective you reference. 

[Cakers3]

His salute to George H.W. Bush's casket brought tears.

[golding76]

I admired his guts, oznell.  What he did to adjust to his altered way of living was nothing short of heroic.  That goes for all those who endured such loss and had to soldier on, whatever their rank.

Senator Dole and Senator John McCain will always be remembered for their particular brand of courage.  Our nation was honored and privileged to have their service at war and at the Capitol.