Franken-Lies-And-the-Lying-Liars-Who-Tell

"No," said the kindly nurse.
"I didn't think so. But I felt I had to ask."
Fortunately, the doctors pulled Mom out of it with some miracle drug. But she's never
really been the same.
The last time I saw Paul was in the late summer of 2002, about six weeks before he
died in a plane crash. It was an evening event in the Twin Cities. Paul was in the middle of an
intense, dead-even Senate race. He'd been targeted as vulnerable by the national Republican
Party and money was flowing in from around the country for his opponent, a suit named
Norm Coleman. Paul was fighting for his political life. The first thing he asked me was,
"How's your mom?"
I told Paul I had just visited her. "It was tough. I couldn't even have a conversation
with her."
Paul nodded, and said, "You know, touch means so much."
The next day I took my mom out into the nursing home garden in her wheelchair. It
was a beautiful day. I sat next to her for a couple of hours with my arm around her. I can't tell
you whether it meant a thing to her, but it meant a lot to me.
So, that was Paul. "Touch means so much" wasn't the kind of thing you'd hear from a
Michael Dukakis. I, along with innumerable people, loved Paul Wellstone. For what he stood
for, for what he fought for, and for who he was. I loved his wife Sheila, too. I don't think I
ever saw Paul without Sheila by his side.
Paul died on October 25, 2002, when his plane went down in Northern Minnesota.
Sheila; their daughter, Marcia; his driver, Will McLaughlin; two other close aides, Tom
Lapic and Mary McEvoy;
and two pilots died with him. Four days later, C-SPAN, along with almost every Minnesota
TV and radio station, carried a hastilyput-together memorial service for Paul, Sheila,
Marcia, Will, Tom, and Mary. I was there. It was a beautiful memorial, sometimes incredibly
sad, sometimes funny, sometimes rowdy, and sometimes political. Some people watching on
television were offended. Some people were moved. But the right saw an opening. They took
moments out of context, lied about the rest, and used it as a political club to attack the Democrats.
It won them the Senate election in Minnesota and probably in Missouri, which
means it gave Republicans control of the Senate.