Gazizza

Long-time Congressman Henry Hyde passed away last night. He was one of the first national politicians I took a shine to when I began becoming interested in politics as a kid. I haven’t always seen eye to eye with him on all issues (gun control), but I admired him for his strong devotion to the weakest members of our society: the unborn. The Amendment that came to be named after him (the Hyde Amendment obviously) which prohibited the national government from paying for abortions. Who knows how many lives this saved? In terms of lives saved, he has to be one of the great humanitarians of our time. In recognition of his long service to our country, he was recently awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

America’s lost a good one.

National Review.com on Henry Hyde

I do have to agree with much of his take on the 2008 Presidential race:

So what does Hyde think about the 2008 presidential field? On John McCain: “He’s interesting and unpredictable but I think he’s electable and correct on social issues.” On Rudy Giuliani: “I like him and he’s electable, but he’s dead wrong on the life issue and that invalidates his candidacy for me.” Mitt Romney: “I don’t know enough about him but he sounds promising.” Then there’s Hyde’s House colleague, Duncan Hunter: “He’s a good man but he’s too protectionist.” Asked about George Pataki, he simply snarls. And what about Barack Obama? He’s not a Republican, but he’s from Hyde’s hometown: “I’ve never seen anyone with such a slim record receive such adulation. He seems like a nice and capable man, but he’s being treated as Pericles revisited or something.”

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and may his soul and all the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.