After our little kerfuffle earlier today, I decided to check out the Wikipedia brief on Lee Atwater (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Atwater). I was out out of the country at the time of his death (in March 1991, at the age of 40), and hadn't been aware that he had a change of heart during his last illness. He apparently wrote letters of apology (public and private) to people he'd savaged in his career as Republican doberman.
>From the Wikipedia article: "In a February 1991 article for Life Magazine, Atwater wrote: "My illness helped me to see that what was missing in society is what was missing in me: a little heart, a lot of brotherhood. The '80s were about acquiring — acquiring wealth, power, prestige. I know. I acquired more wealth, power, and prestige than most. But you can acquire all you want and still feel empty. What power wouldn't I trade for a little more time with my family? What price wouldn't I pay for an evening with friends? It took a deadly illness to put me eye to eye with that truth, but it is a truth that the country, caught up in its ruthless ambitions and moral decay, can learn on my dime. I don't know who will lead us through the '90s, but they must be made to speak to this spiritual vacuum at the heart of American society, this tumor of the soul." Better late than never, poor man. Jerome --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Persons posting messages to not_honyaku assume all responsibility for their messages. The list owner does not review messages, and accepts no responsibility for the content of messages posted. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
