Today would have been Barbara Jordans' 77th birthday....She probably the person I admire most from

[Rowdyboy]

my college years. Her service on the Nixon impeachment committee was stunning-I watched the proceedings daily and she spoke with a power that is impossible to describe now. She's one of the primary reasons I'm proud to still call myself a Democrat after all these years. Maybe today the party has become a parody of itself, weak and often spineless but Barbara Jordan was a Democrat and proud and I honor her memory. She was a giant among pygmies. If you're not familiar with her record, please spend a moment to read her biography.

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

I don't believe I've ever recc'ed one of my own threads before but this one is special-just like her.

Rest in peace old friend. You made your mark and earned our love and respect. And you are truly one of the greatest presidents America never had.

[Rowdyboy]

1. Here she is from the 1992 Democratic Convention....absolutely majestic

[MADem]

2. She was beloved in my family's home.

I have a sibling who had the honor of meeting her and having a long conversation.

It was a life highlight--we still talk about it!

[Rowdyboy]

3. It doesn't get any better....How do you explain her gravitas to someone accustomed to the pissants

in congress today? She stood like a rock and did not give a shit about her next election.

It was a different time, and politicans were cut from a different cloth. Today its a "brave, new world" and thats to our detriment.

[MADem]

4. "She stood like a rock..." That, she most certainly did.

I loved her speaking voice, too--she always held my attention!

[Blue_In_AK]

5. Wonderful woman.

She spoke at my church in Pasadena, Texas, sometime back in the early '60s when I was in high school. She made such a lasting impression on me.

[Rowdyboy]

6. I can only imagine.....People like Barbara don't come along that often.....

[DesertFlower]

7. great woman.

[Skittles]

8. oh how I adored her

she was magnificent

[life long demo]

9. Oh Barbara Jordan, I loved her

Yes I remember listening to the impeachment hearings, and that voice of hers. How can anyone forget her voice. It was commanding. It wasn't just what she said, but how she said it. Kinda wish we had 24 hour news back then just to listen to her.

[Rowdyboy]

10. Kick for a genuine leader and brilliant political figure....

[indepat]

11. Was fortunate enough to have met her on a flight from Memphis to Washington, D.C.: she was then

at the top of my very short list of great living American patriots, a still very short list now headed by Senator Sanders.

[ismnotwasm]

12. K&R

[Bigmack]

13. That voice! Dumbya, Cheney, and the rest...

... had best count their blessings that she was gone when they were trashing the Constitution. And the World.

She'd have cut them to dog meat with that ringing voice and that unassailable logic.

Small of me, I know, but why do Cheney, Limbaugh, Hannity, and the rest of them continue to suck air when the greats like Barbara Jordan, Ann Richards, Molly Ivins.... are gone?

Further proof that there just ain't no god.

[Rowdyboy]

14. "Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!"....."Barbara and Molly and Anne, oh my!"

Those three women kicked some serious ass in their day. They are sorely missed.