Father Robert Drinan has passed away

[RB TexLa]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070129/ap_on_re_us/obit_drinan_3

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Drinan


In 1970, Drinan sought a seat in Congress on an anti-war platform, narrowly defeating longtime Representative Philip J. Philbin, who was chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, in the Democratic primary. Drinan won election to the U.S. House of Representatives and was reelected four times, serving from 1971 until 1981. He sat on various House committees and was the chair of the Subcommittee on Criminal Justice of the House Judiciary Committee. Drinan was the first to introduce a resolution in Congress calling for the impeachment of President Nixon over the Watergate scandal, though many of his colleagues thought that it was poorly timed before sufficient support and evidence could be gathered against Nixon. Regardless, as part of the Judiciary Committee, Drinan played an integral role in the subsequent congressional investigation. He was also a delegate to the 1972 Democratic National Convention.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

1. A good and honest man. All too rare among politicians.

[Zhade]

2. "many of his colleagues thought that it was poorly timed"

Just goes to show that everyone whining about not having the votes they can't possibly know we "don't have" are very much in danger of being on the wrong side of history.

[The Straight Story]

3. What? A Priest in office. OMG NOOOOO!O@@!!

Well anyway, when I saw this I conjured up in my head what would happen today on DU if a priest ran. Some would complain his church was too big and his house too small :)

RIP - for a good guy, may he long be remembered.

[TahitiNut]

12. That's what the Vatican eventually told him.

:shrug:

[burrowowl]

4. RIP he was a good man

[Benhurst]

5. A good man. He shall be missed.

Members of DU should be made aware of his death. Recommended #2

[autorank]

6. Rest in Peace...a great man a true advocate for the people. KR

He was a priest in Congress, a priest of all the people. And he was incredibly intelligent.

His life is a great story of a great man.

Father Robert Drinan -- Former Congressman, Legal Ethicist -- Going Strong at 86

It's more than enough to rest his laurels on, but Drinan will have none of it. Even at 86, he has given no thought to retirement. There's too much left to do. "Jesuits don't ordinarily retire," he says with a shrug. "You just do what you do."

snip

One change Drinan does not see coming in the next two years is the impeachment of President George W. Bush. Drinan was on the House Judiciary Committee in 1974 when it served up articles of impeachment on Richard Nixon. But, just as he argued against impeaching Bill Clinton, Drinan doesn't think George W. Bush is guilty of impeachable offenses, unless, he adds, "there is something we don't know about." He explains, "The standard is pretty high for impeachment -- high crimes and misdemeanors. Every president makes a lot of mistakes and false policies."

What Drinan describes as the "explosion" in human rights consciousness is the greatest development Drinan has seen in recent years. "It's the new glue, the moral consensus." Once viewed as a function of natural law, with religious connotations, Drinan says it has blossomed as a more universal concept of international human rights. But human rights still has religious roots, Drinan says. The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights does not mention God per se, Drinan notes, but "they had Catholics drafting it."

Catholics, Drinan clearly believes, have a duty to be a force for good. He is disdainful of defeated Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., describing him as "this super-Catholic who supported the war and went specifically against what the pope said." Drinan is proud that 22 graduates of Georgetown, a Jesuit school, serve in Congress, "though not all of them think straight," he adds with a mischievous smile.

[The Witch]

7. dang. we did a profile on him last month in my paper. he was great.

[mohinoaklawnillinois]

8. RIP, Fr. Drinan.

Perpetual light will shine on him...

[Ikonoklast]

9. One of last of his kind

Fr. Drinan was a good Catholic, and an even better American.

He was disabused by the Vatican, and removed himself from the active political arena with dignity. Always a champion of civil rights, and the downtrodden. Anti-war to his core.

He took the teachings of Jesus to heart; the deeds of the man were the extension of the words of the teacher.

The Jesuits have lost a great thinker, teacher, priest.

[DesertRat]

10. RIP Father Drinan. n/t

[TahitiNut]

11. R.I.P., Padre.

Thank you.

[DeepModem Mom]

13. A remarkable life -- thank you , Father Drinan. nt

[OneBlueSky]

14. a good man who bounced off walls . . .

following the 1974 elections, I went to DC to check out the possibility of a Congressional staff position . . . I'd worked on several campaigns and was on the district staff of a Member who unfortunately wasn't re-elected . . .

a very dear friend who was on Congressman Moakley's staff graciously served as my guide around the Capitol . . . on one particular day, we were walking down a long corridor in one of the House office buildings when my friend spotted Congressman Drinan coming toward us from the other end of the hall . . . "Watch this," my friend says . . .

as he was walking, Drinan was engrossed in reading something or other, and he tended to slant toward the wall as he walked . . . when he reached the wall, he sort of bounced off it and then started slanting toward the opposite wall . . . this pattern continued all the way up the corridor until we passed each other . . . "Happens all the time," says my friend with a knowing smile . . .

like I said . . . a good man who bounced off walls . . . :)

[newyawker99]

15. Rest in Peace Fr Drinan.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

16. Having attended Catholic Schools in Massachusetts in the 70's

I recall that Father Drinan was revered by most of the clergy in Mass., while also attracting quite a bit of controversy. The Globe's obit is a great read:

A five-term member of the House of Representatives, Father Drinan was one of its most liberal members. His strong anti administration stands earned him a place on the Nixon "enemies list." His upset victory over US Representative Philip J. Philbin , a 14-term incumbent who was vice chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, in the 1970 Democratic primary in Massachusetts Third Congressional District was a high-water mark in the New Politics, which brought the antiwar movement to the ballot box.

Father Drinan's election was also a landmark in US church-state relations.

A Catholic priest, the Rev. Gabriel Richard, had served in Congress in 1822 as a nonvoting delegate from Michigan Territory , but he had been appointed. And many Protestant clerics had served as US representatives. Yet the sight of Father Drinan in the halls of Congress in his Roman collar was startling. Some even questioned the propriety of his wearing a cleric's collar and black suit on the floor of the House. Father Drinan had a standard response. "It's the only suit I own," he'd quip...

...Father Drinan drew particular attention. In January 1974, George H. W. Bush , who was then Republican Party chairman, said there wasn't another congressman whose defeat he more strongly hoped for than Father Drinan's. He promised a major GOP drive to unseat him. None materialized. ...

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2007/01/29/congressman_priest_drinan_dies?mode=PF

[RB TexLa]

17. "It's the only suit I own,"

Wow, what a line, and what a statement.