Former Maryland Senator Charles McC Mathias dead at 87

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/breaking/md-mathias0125,0,2274228.story

Mathias dead at 87
Maryland Republican senator bucked party on civil rights, Vietnam

Charles McC. Mathias Jr., Maryland's liberal Republican who served three terms in the U.S. Senate, where he gained enduring bipartisan respect for his conscientious approach to controversial legislation, died yesterday from complications from Parkinson's Disease. He was 87.

Born in Frederick, Mr. Mathias retired from the Senate in 1986, ending a career on Capitol Hill that began with his election to the House of Representatives in 1960. He was elected to the Senate in 1968.

Called a "maverick" Republican by some, he was a consistent supporter of organized labor, an occasional dove on defense issues and an early advocate of revitalizing the Chesapeake Bay when that was not a significant issue.

"Dad lived what he believed," said Robert Mathias, one of the senator's two sons. "The conversations around the dinner table when we were kids...were over civil rights, the Vietnam war, issues that were important to him. We were raised in that light."

Mr. Mathias spent the first half of his political career fighting for civil rights, said Charles Mathias, the senator's elder son. One of Mr. Mathias' prized possessions had been a framed photograph showing him shaking hands with Martin Luther King, Jr. who was in jail in Selma, Ala., at the time.

The picture is signed by King and thanks Mr. Mathias for his help. "The battle is something he believed emphatically in," Charles Mathias said. "It was one of the hallmarks of his career."

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Please follow the link. This man, a Republican, is a model for what most of today's DEMOCRATS ought to be. He could also educate that turd, McCain, on what it means to be a real "maverick".

Thanks Senator. Ya done real good!

before Reagan handed the party to the televangelists and other cultists.

They used to be decent but wrongheaded, people who would work and compromise for the good of the country.

Now they're just a criminal organization supported by a massive cult.

that's right kids; used to be such a thing back in not so ancient history.

RIP Mr. Mathias...a good and decent man.

Republicans like him are non-existent now and might not be around again ever.

He was a great Senator, and frankly more liberal than a lot of today's so called Dems. Just goes to show you how far right this country has moved.