Why I liked Lloyd Bentsen

Lloyd Bentsen died today. I got to meet him a couple times. I always liked him.

Some random things I found interesteing about him:

• He was the last Democrat Texas sent to the US Senate.


• He was a WWII bomber pilot, flying fifty missions. And was shot down. Twice.


• In 1970 he beat George HW Bush for the Senate seat he would hold until 1988 - when Bush won the Presidency and denied him the Vice-Presidency.


• When, in his VP debate against Dan Quayle, Quayle compared himself to JFK, Bentsen famously retorted, "Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy. I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy."


• The "s" and the "t" are backwards in his name. On purpose.


• He signed all our money for two years as Clinton's first Treasury Secretary.


• He was just the kind of smart guy you want in the Senate

Stupid passage of time.

Already Getting Ugly

On the SFGate political blog, Carla Marinucci notes that the GOP primary race in Modesto is getting heated early.

GOP candidate Bill Conrad is attacking Tom Berryhill for having a heart transplant. He points out that he'll be dead soon and that Sacramento is just too, too much excitement to risk.

Awesome.

Attack on Central Valley Assembly candidate called heartless.

OMG

Oh. God.

Now, not all lof my events have been perfect. Things happen and no live event is without small hitches.

But, when I watch the opposing team so throroughly drop the ball, I remember a joke I heard last week;

Q: What is the difference between the Republican Party and The Titanic?
A: The Titanic wasn't trying to hit the iceberg?

Outside the Casa Rosada, Crying Eva Peron

Maggie and I are on our way back from a couple weeks vacation in Buenos Aires. We've changed our vacation strategy over the last few years; this being the best example.

We've always liked the "spend a little more on the airline ticket to go somewhere interesting, and where the dollar is strong." That's harder and harder to find these days, but Argnetina is sure it.

This time we stayed in one place for two weeks. And, though you couldn't see everything in Buenos Aires if you were there for a year, staying in one place and exploring a city neighborhood-by-neighborhood was much more restful, educational, and has served to make me more eager to return.

And really good wine is US$5 per bottle.