The Associated Press, November 29, 2007
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Rep. Henry Hyde, the Illinois Republican who steered the impeachment proceedings against President Clinton and was a hero of the anti-abortion movement, died Thursday. He was 83.
Mary Ann Schultz, a spokeswoman for Rush University Medical Center, said Hyde died Thursday at 2:30 a.m. CST at that hospital. She said Hyde, who underwent open-heart surgery in July, was admitted for persistent renal failure related to his cardiac condition and suffered from a fatal arrhythmia.
Hyde retired from Congress at the end of the last session. Earlier this month, President Bush presented him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
”During more than 30 years as a congressman, he represented the people of Illinois with character and dignity — and always stood for a strong and purposeful America,” Bush said in a statement Thursday. ”This fine man believed in the power of freedom, and he was a tireless champion of the weak and forgotten. He used his talents to build a more hopeful America and promote a culture of life.”
House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio said in a statement: ”In his respect for the institutional integrity of the House of Representatives, Henry took second place to no one.”
Just watched a little of a tribute to Hyde in Washington. Sometimes you can judge a man by those who eulogize him — I caught Dick Cheney and Dennis Hastert effusively praising the recent corpse, calling him a ‘man of integrity’ with a straight face, and, on MSNBC, Screamer Matthews lauded him for his commitment to the democratic process, so you get an idea of what an inordinately crooked liar Hyde truly was.
And, of course, Hank didn’t get that Medal of Freedom from Junior because he was a knight in shining armor.
Comment by RS Janes — November 30, 2007 @ 7:58 am