A Few Articles for Saturday

 Obituary:  Former Arkansas politician David Pryor, 89, who served the state as governor and senator, has died:

Following in a long family tradition of public service, Mr. Pryor spent his entire career in politics except for a post-college stint as a self-described “crusading” small-town newspaper publisher and editor. His two terms as governor — from 1975 to 1979 — were sandwiched between those of fellow Democrat reformers Dale Bumpers and Bill Clinton, and he helped the state pivot away from its segregationist past.

“I cite him as one of the major reasons why Democrats held on in places like Arkansas much longer than they did in any other southern state,” said Angie Maxwell, director of the Diane D. Blair Center of Southern Politics and Society at the University of Arkansas. “He made Arkansas punch above its weight in terms of power and influence.”Following in a long family tradition of public service, Mr. Pryor spent his entire career in politics except for a post-college stint as a self-described “crusading” small-town newspaper publisher and editor. His two terms as governor — from 1975 to 1979 — were sandwiched between those of fellow Democrat reformers Dale Bumpers and Bill Clinton, and he helped the state pivot away from its segregationist past.

“I cite him as one of the major reasons why Democrats held on in places like Arkansas much longer than they did in any other southern state,” said Angie Maxwell, director of the Diane D. Blair Center of Southern Politics and Society at the University of Arkansas. “He made Arkansas punch above its weight in terms of power and influence.”

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Too bad, so sad about the antiabortion nutcases in Colorado.

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With workers in the VW plant in Tennessee voting to be unionized, it is a very big deal.

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