RIP Jim Bunning

[KYSportsWriter]

Former senator, hall of famer Jim Bunning dies

 

[Michael_ Gee]

A Phillies hero of my youth. RIP.

 

[cranberry]

Jim was one of the founders of the MLBPA and maybe the player most responsible for the selection of Marvin Miller as executive director back in 1966. I spent a good part of a day with him at his home outside Cincinnati about a year ago to collect his thoughts about the union's 50th anniversary. I obviously did not agree with him on a huge range of political issues, but he was a principled gentleman and fearless in his convictions.

 

[Baron Scicluna]

A terrific pitcher. As a politician, well, I once started a thread on here titled "F-ck you Jim Bunning" which pretty much sums up my opinion of him on that subject.

RIP.

 

[Steak Snabler]

Pitched a perfect game on Father's Day 1964 with the Phillies.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

Pitched a perfect game on Father's Day 1964 with the Phillies.

Saw that one on TV at age 14. It was against the Mets of that time, so sort of an asterisk accomplishment.

 

[terrier]

He'd been out of the limelight since leaving the Senate in 2010, and I wondered how long he had lived with Alzheimer's, which I remembered hearing about while still in office. Looked up several stories, and it turns out the Alzheimer's thing was stirred up by his political enemies, many of them Republicans who had beefs about his strange behavior.
Truly a Man Not To Be ****ed With.

 

[jr/shotglass]

Near-great pitcher, not-too-great politician.

 

[hondo]

Or, as per Ted Williams, via Ball Four: "Jim ****ing Bunning and that little **** slider of his."

 

[hondo]

Near-great pitcher, not-too-great politician.

The constituents of Kentucky who elected him to six House terms and two Senate terms obviously disagree.

 

[cranberry]

 

[tapintoamerica]

Interesting that a Republican was a founder of a union. Anybody know how he felt or voted re other unions?

 

[jr/shotglass]

Wasn't behind a paywall like the tweet said; I read the whole story.

That's the type of great gamer that an ASF or highlights package can never touch.

 

[tapintoamerica]

What do you know about Ronald Reagan and the Screen Actors Guild? My guess is not much ...

You guessed wrong. Reagan was SAG prez in his liberal days. I was merely asking a question. Did Bunning support any unions while in Congress? Did he have a change of political ideology as Reagan did? Don't know. Asking.

 

[User 11148]

You guessed wrong. Reagan was SAG prez in his liberal days. I was merely asking a question. Did Bunning support any unions while in Congress? Did he have a change of political ideology as Reagan did? Don't know. Asking.

Fair enough. I had deleted my post because in reading it I didn't like the tone. You were quicker on the reply than I was on the delete.

 

[YankeeFan]

You guessed wrong. Reagan was SAG prez in his liberal days. I was merely asking a question. Did Bunning support any unions while in Congress? Did he have a change of political ideology as Reagan did? Don't know. Asking.

Reagan may have been a Democrat when first elected SAG President (and, btw, isn't the current party line here that Dems were the conservatives in 1947?).

By the the time he came back to the job in 1959, and when he successfully fought the studios to get movie actors residual payments -- having asked for and received a strike authorization vote -- you could hardly call him a liberal.

By then, he'd already worked for GE and Cold War was on.

It was Communism that made Reagan a Consevative, and Reagan first testified before a Congressional Committee about communists in Hollywood in 1947, the same year he first became President of the SAG.

Of course, back then, you could be a Democrat and oppose communism.

As I've heard here a few Times, Reagan never felt like he left his party. He believed his party left him when it went soft on communism, among other things.

 

[QYFW]

Reagan may have been a Democrat when first elected SAG President (and, btw, isn't the current party line here that Dems were the conservatives in 1947?).

By the the time he came back to the job in 1959, and when he successfully fought the studios to get movie actors residual payments -- having asked for and received a strike authorization vote -- you could hardly call him a liberal.

By then, he'd already worked for GE and Cold War was on.

It was Communism that made Reagan a Consevative, and Reagan first testified before a Congressional Committee about communists in Hollywood in 1947, the same year he first became President of the SAG.

Of course, back then, you could be a Democrat and oppose communism.

As I've heard here a few Times, Reagan never felt like he left his party. He believed his party left him when it went soft on communism, among other things.

 

[BTExpress]

Reagan may have been a Democrat when first elected SAG President (and, btw, isn't the current party line here that Dems were the conservatives in 1947?).

Dems were the conservatives in 1847. Until around 1900.

 

[dixiehack]

Southern Democrats were a thing long after that. Hell Richard Shelby (R-Regions Bank) was a Democrat until midway through Clinton's first term, even though his views have pretty much always been the same. Until 25-30 years ago, conservatives and liberals didn't fit automatically into party boxes the way they do now.

 

[Shropshire Slasher]

Right. You had reactionary Southern Democrats and liberal cloth-coat Northeastern Republicans until the 80s when the realignment started during Reagan's term. The conservative Democrats who didn't age out eventually switched to the GOP. A few moderates hung on in the South and Appalachia — Joe Manchin is the last of his breed.