RIP -- 2020 Going Into 2021 Edition

[Bact PhD]

Former US Secretary of State Colin Powell, 84:

www.npr.org/2021/10/18/1046981056/colin-powell-former-secretary-of-state-dies-at-84

Colin Powell, who served as secretary of state during the presidency of George W. Bush and led the first Gulf War as chairman of the joint chiefs, has died at age 84 of complications from COVID-19, his family confirmed.

Powell, the first African American to serve in both of those senior posts, died Monday morning, they said, adding that "he was fully vaccinated."

"We want to thank the medical staff at Walter Reed National Medical Center for their caring treatment," the family said in a Facebook post. "We have lost a remarkable and loving husband, father, grandfather and a great American."

[pnwguy]

Oct 18, 2021 12:47:37 GMT Bact PhD said:

Former US Secretary of State Colin Powell, 84:

www.npr.org/2021/10/18/1046981056/colin-powell-former-secretary-of-state-dies-at-84

Colin Powell, who served as secretary of state during the presidency of George W. Bush and led the first Gulf War as chairman of the joint chiefs, has died at age 84 of complications from COVID-19, his family confirmed.

Powell, the first African American to serve in both of those senior posts, died Monday morning, they said, adding that "he was fully vaccinated."

"We want to thank the medical staff at Walter Reed National Medical Center for their caring treatment," the family said in a Facebook post. "We have lost a remarkable and loving husband, father, grandfather and a great American."

Secretary Powell had been fighting cancer over the years, so we can speculate that he might have been immunocompromised in some ways from his medication regime.  

[LFC]

James Fallows
@jamesfallows

An aspect of Colin Powell in his post-2001 persona:

He was unsparingly clear-eyed, and not "in denial," about damage he ended up doing to the world, and his reputation, w that UN speech. Such clarity is rare among public figures—notably including his GWB-era colleagues.

RIP
9:27 AM · Oct 18, 2021·TweetDeck

[AnBr]

There seemed to be a few in the W administration that saw the damage that that administration was doing, but stayed on, perhaps out of some moral dilemma between enduring the wrong to help mitigate/lessen the damage or getting out for the sake of their own souls. I always saw Powell in this light and then eventually bailed when he realized he could do no more good. Everyone in the tRump administration were willing, even eager participants in the evil.

[LFC]

Oct 18, 2021 14:42:01 GMT AnBr said:

There seemed to be a few in the W administration that saw the damage that that administration was doing, but stayed on, perhaps out of some moral dilemma between enduring the wrong to help mitigate/lessen the damage or getting out for the sake of their own souls. I always saw Powell in this light and then eventually bailed when he realized he could do no more good. Everyone in the tRump administration were willing, even eager participants in the evil.

But, but, but ... Donny Rumsfeld told us that they did nothing wrong, he was the smartest man alive, and anything that did fail wasn't his fault. Damn, he sounds an awful like another infamous, incompetent, and destructive Donny.

[goldenvalley]

Oct 18, 2021 14:42:01 GMT AnBr said:

There seemed to be a few in the W administration that saw the damage that that administration was doing, but stayed on, perhaps out of some moral dilemma between enduring the wrong to help mitigate/lessen the damage or getting out for the sake of their own souls. I always saw Powell in this light and then eventually bailed when he realized he could do no more good. Everyone in the tRump administration were willing, even eager participants in the evil.

There were maybe a few in the Trump Admin that believed they were preventing worse damage than was already happening...and maybe they were.  However when it comes to the president (whoever the president is) is running for re-election, I think those folks owed it to the American voters to explain just what dangers they averted.  Same deal with Powell.  Keeping silent at a certain point is not preserving the office of the president, it is enabling poor or illegal behavior by an incumbent candidate.  

[Art Vandelay]

Peter Scolari 

[goldenvalley]

Former Senator Max Cleland, triple amputee as a result of service in Vietnam.   The treatment of him during his re-election campaign foreshadowed what would happen to Kerry when he ran for president.  

ETA the correct name of the candidate.  John Kerry who got "swift boated"

[AnBr]

Stephen Sondheim

[pnwguy]

Nov 27, 2021 13:05:23 GMT AnBr said:

Stephen Sondheim

...who wrote what essentially became the operating anthem of the Republican party -- Send In The Clowns

[AnBr]

Bob Dole, 98

[goldenvalley]

Michael Nesmith of The Monkees

[Bact PhD]

Anne Rice, author of “Interview With the Vampire,” 80

www.esquire.com/entertainment/books/a38502406/anne-rice-dead-died-obit/

Rice enjoyed a following of passionate fans, who often attended her sold-out readings, as she described, “dripping in velvet and lace, bringing me dead roses wrapped in leather handcuffs.” The New Orleans-based Vampire Lestat Fan Club has been hosting vampire balls for over three decades. But as Rice grew in literary stature, her interests broadened: she branched out to write lush tales of witches, wolves, mummies, Sleeping Beauty, and even Jesus Christ himself.

[goldenvalley]

Joan Didion.

[pg]

Goodnight to one of my favorite American authors ever. A decades-long hobby of mine has been to scan used book stores for first editions of my favorite works of literature, wherever I am. As a consequence, I have 3 first generation and pristine works of her art: Slouching Towards Bethlehem, Play It As it Lays and a lesser known work- Democracy. The last one is signed, as I found it in a book store on the OR coast. Messing around, waiting to watch a college football game in Berkeley.

Mr. who always had the best info, noted that she was actually on campus. He went off to a boat to watch the stupid game from The Bay. I went to campus and asked her to sign it. She did, but not without noting that it was both a first edition and the location of where I bought it. "Oregon is beautiful. Football is for the weak of heart." Wow...RIP. Such a talent.

[Bact PhD]

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Anglican prelate in South Africa during the dismantling of apartheid, 90:

www.cnn.com/2021/12/26/africa/desmond-tutu-death-intl-hnk/index.html

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Anglican cleric whose good humor, inspiring message and conscientious work for civil and human rights made him a revered leader during the struggle to end apartheid in his native South Africa, has died. He was 90.

In a statement confirming his death on Sunday, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa expressed his condolences to Tutu's family and friends, calling him "a patriot without equal."

 "A man of extraordinary intellect, integrity and invincibility against the forces of apartheid, he was also tender and vulnerable in his compassion for those who had suffered oppression, injustice and violence under apartheid, and oppressed and downtrodden people around the world," Ramaphosa said.

[goldenvalley]

Wayne Thiebaud, pop artist, died at 101.  Think of pastel images of pies, cakes...that's what he was known for.  

ETA That's two Sacramento arts giants in the last week.  Didion and Thiebaud.  She was a native, he spent most of his life here.

[Bact PhD]

Harry Reid, former Senate Majority Leader, 82:

www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/harry-reid-dead/2021/12/28/775787dc-43f9-11e8-bba2-0976a82b05a2_story.html

Harry M. Reid, a Nevada Democrat who rose from a hardscrabble mining town to become one of the longest-serving Senate majority leaders in history and a political force during the presidencies of George W. Bush and Barack Obama, died Dec. 28 at his home in Henderson, Nev. He was 82.

The death was confirmed by David Krone, a former chief of staff. Mr. Reid was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2018.

A combative but soft-spoken former amateur boxer, Mr. Reid displayed an economy of personal magnetism and embraced the art of the scrappy insult. Columnist Molly Ivins called him “charismatically challenged.” Obama, a friend and political ally, euphemistically remarked on his “curmudgeonly charm.”

[goldenvalley]

John Madden. Boom! 

[Bact PhD]

Dec 29, 2021 1:33:05 GMT goldenvalley said:

John Madden. Boom! 

Boom!, indeed. While watching Fox Sports’ retrospective on Madden on Christmas Day, it dawned on me that for Dear Son and his cohorts, “Madden” is a video game, more than anything else. Even the broadcasting career was history by the time his generation became old enough to remember most things…but the video game lives on.

[Rue Bella]

Betty White at 99. New year's Eve, punctuating the end of 2021.

[goldenvalley]

Dec 31, 2021 19:57:49 GMT Rue Bella said:

Betty White at 99. New year's Eve, punctuating the end of 2021 

Another vestige of my childhood tv watching is gone.

[Bact PhD]

Dec 31, 2021 19:57:49 GMT Rue Bella said:

Betty White at 99. New year's Eve, punctuating the end of 2021.

Punctuation mark? Or obscene gesture? Seriously.

[Bact PhD]

Dec 31, 2021 20:44:30 GMT goldenvalley said:

Dec 31, 2021 19:57:49 GMT Rue Bella said:

Betty White at 99. New year's Eve, punctuating the end of 2021 

Another vestige of my childhood tv watching is gone.

One by one…

Good grief, who among those ‘70s icons is still alive?

M*A*S*H has several of its principal cast members still with us (Alda, Swit, Farrell, Farr, Burghoff).
Brady Bunch— all the juvenile principals (Williams, McCormick, Knight, Plumb, Lookinland, Olsen)
Partridge Family—Shirley Jones is still alive and kicking, but 2 of the 5 juveniles (D. Cassidy, Crough) have passed.
Waltons—Without looking it up, I think all the juveniles, plus Michael Learned are all still alive.
Little House—Michael Landon died ages ago; Merlin Olsen died in 2010; Katherine MacGregor (Harriet Oleson) died just a couple of years ago in her 90s. AFAIK, the other principals are still with us.

Sigh…

[goldenvalley]

We all need a laugh...thank you Betty White