Lloyd Bentsen dies at 85... - The Orange Mane

Crushaholic · 05-24-2006, 02:28 AM

When a politician who seemed to be cut from a different cloth dies, it's worth mentioning. Lloyd Bentsen, in my mind, deserves his own thread...

http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion...eciation_x.htm

WASHINGTON — He may be best known for his "you're no Jack Kennedy" slap at Dan Quayle in the 1988 vice presidential debates, but Lloyd Bentsen's life was far more than that.
The Democratic senator from Texas, who died Tuesday at 85, lived a full chapter of the American Dream, a story that is especially poignant amid today's partisan divisiveness. Born dirt poor, Bentsen grew up speaking Spanish and English in the raucous Lower Rio Grande Valley before rising to positions of power in politics and the executive branch.

In a way, Bentsen helped usher in the Bush political dynasty that has occupied the White House for nine and a half of the last 17 years. In his first run for the Senate in 1970, he defeated a congressman named George Herbert Walker Bush, who moved on from that loss to build a resume that would include the chairmanship of the Republican National Committee, the directorship of the CIA and the vice presidency.

Eighteen years after Bentsen beat Bush, Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis tapped him as a vice presidential running mate. But in the 1988 campaign, Bentsen's side this time lost to the senior Bush's.

That 1988 campaign was full of precursors. Bentsen's verbal shot at Quayle forever painted Quayle as a deer-in-the-headlights politician.

Quayle's many defenders have always considered the label unfair. But coupled with Bush's ill-fated "read my lips" promise to not raise taxes, the characterization was a big part of the Bush-Quayle problems when the Republicans fell four years later to young Democrats Bill Clinton and Al Gore. Bentsen became treasury secretary under Clinton, the only president in the last 37 years to balance the federal budget.

Bentsen, a deficit hawk, grew his understanding of high finance from the hard dirt of southern Texas. The year he was born, Bentsen's father, with $5 in his pocket, moved the family from South Dakota to the Rio Grande. Life on the unpatrolled border with Mexico often encouraged a take-the-law-in-your-own-hands perspective. Eventually, Bentsen's father would become one of the biggest landowners in South Texas.

Bentsen served in an age in which glitz and glamour emerged as essential components of political imagery. Against the new milieu, he could be seen as dull and reserved. But few ever questioned his discipline and resiliency, two traits of a long and productive life.

Spider · 05-24-2006, 07:03 AM

He was somthing else , hard hitting told it like it was , he was Simon Cowell before it was popular ........... we need more democrats like him .....

L.A. BRONCOS FAN · 05-24-2006, 06:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by §Pide®

He was somthing else , hard hitting told it like it was , he was Simon Cowell before it was popular ........... we need more democrats like him .....

Yep. He was a far cry from the worthless, gutless pansy Dems currently sucking up the air the rest of us breathe.

Hogan11 · 05-24-2006, 07:57 PM

"You are no Jack Kennedy"...how could anyone forget the way he swatted that fly?

Man, I hated Quayle.

L.A. BRONCOS FAN · 05-24-2006, 08:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hogan11

"You are no Jack Kennedy"...how could anyone forget the way he swatted that fly?

Man, I hated Quayle.

No doubt.

Scary thing is, the drooling half-wit who currently squats in the oval office makes Dan Quayle look like MENSA material.

gunns · 05-24-2006, 11:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by L.A. BRONCOS FAN

Yep. He was a far cry from the worthless, gutless pansy Dems currently sucking up the air the rest of us breathe.

Amen.

gunns · 05-24-2006, 11:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by L.A. BRONCOS FAN

No doubt.

Scary thing is, the drooling half-wit who currently squats in the oval office makes Dan Quayle look like MENSA material.

You say potatoe, I say potato..

Crushaholic · 05-25-2006, 01:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by L.A. BRONCOS FAN

Scary thing is, the drooling half-wit who currently squats in the oval office makes Dan Quayle look like MENSA material.

I'm sure he can spell "nucular" just fine...

05-24-2006, 02:28 AM	#1
Crushaholic Armchair Poster Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Topeka, KS Posts: 22,039	Lloyd Bentsen dies at 85... When a politician who seemed to be cut from a different cloth dies, it's worth mentioning. Lloyd Bentsen, in my mind, deserves his own thread... http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion...eciation_x.htm WASHINGTON — He may be best known for his "you're no Jack Kennedy" slap at Dan Quayle in the 1988 vice presidential debates, but Lloyd Bentsen's life was far more than that. The Democratic senator from Texas, who died Tuesday at 85, lived a full chapter of the American Dream, a story that is especially poignant amid today's partisan divisiveness. Born dirt poor, Bentsen grew up speaking Spanish and English in the raucous Lower Rio Grande Valley before rising to positions of power in politics and the executive branch. In a way, Bentsen helped usher in the Bush political dynasty that has occupied the White House for nine and a half of the last 17 years. In his first run for the Senate in 1970, he defeated a congressman named George Herbert Walker Bush, who moved on from that loss to build a resume that would include the chairmanship of the Republican National Committee, the directorship of the CIA and the vice presidency. Eighteen years after Bentsen beat Bush, Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis tapped him as a vice presidential running mate. But in the 1988 campaign, Bentsen's side this time lost to the senior Bush's. That 1988 campaign was full of precursors. Bentsen's verbal shot at Quayle forever painted Quayle as a deer-in-the-headlights politician. Quayle's many defenders have always considered the label unfair. But coupled with Bush's ill-fated "read my lips" promise to not raise taxes, the characterization was a big part of the Bush-Quayle problems when the Republicans fell four years later to young Democrats Bill Clinton and Al Gore. Bentsen became treasury secretary under Clinton, the only president in the last 37 years to balance the federal budget. Bentsen, a deficit hawk, grew his understanding of high finance from the hard dirt of southern Texas. The year he was born, Bentsen's father, with $5 in his pocket, moved the family from South Dakota to the Rio Grande. Life on the unpatrolled border with Mexico often encouraged a take-the-law-in-your-own-hands perspective. Eventually, Bentsen's father would become one of the biggest landowners in South Texas. Bentsen served in an age in which glitz and glamour emerged as essential components of political imagery. Against the new milieu, he could be seen as dull and reserved. But few ever questioned his discipline and resiliency, two traits of a long and productive life. Last edited by Crushaholic; 05-24-2006 at 02:36 AM..

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

05-24-2006, 07:03 AM	#2
Spider Mr Diplomacy I survived Tebow Mania at the Mane Join Date: May 2001 Location: Elway was just an arm =MacGruder Posts: 84,438 Adopt-a-Bronco: Von Miller	He was somthing else , hard hitting told it like it was , he was Simon Cowell before it was popular ........... we need more democrats like him .....

05-24-2006, 07:57 PM	#4
Hogan11 Rock-N-Roll Historian Let's take these SOB's out!!!!!! Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: W.NY.B.C. Posts: 21,300 Adopt-a-Bronco: Floyd Little	"You are no Jack Kennedy"...how could anyone forget the way he swatted that fly? Man, I hated Quayle.