Part I
September 25, 2006 - 9/11/01 + 1841 days
Author's Note: This contest is not intended to impugn the Republican Party or Conservatives. Its only purpose is to highlight and explore unusual patterns in recent U.S political history.
Question #1: What are the odds against chance that the only U.S. political leaders to be assassinated in the past 100 years were Democratic or Progressive?
(All biographical and Anthrax Attacks information excerpted from Wikipedia entries.)
John F. Kennedy (May 29, 1917 - November 22, 1963), the 35th President of the United States.
Robert F. Kennedy (November 20, 1925 - June 6, 1968), a United States Senator from Massachusetts and candidate for the 1968 Democratic presidential nomination.
Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929 - April 4, 1968), leader of the American Civil Rights Movement and peacemaker.
Question #2: What are the odds against chance that the only U.S. political leaders (or heirs apparent) to die in plane crashes at pivotal moments in political history in the past 50 years were Democrats?
Thomas Hale Boggs, Sr. (February 15, 1914 - October 16, 1972), a Democratic member of the U.S House of Representatives from Louisiana and House Majority Leader. While still Majority Leader, in October, 1972, he was aboard a twin engine Cessna 310 with Congressman Nick Begich on the way to a fundraiser when it disappeared during a flight from Anchorage to Juneau, Alaska. Begich's aide and the pilot were the only others on board. The plane presumably crashed and was never found.
Mel Carnahan (February 11, 1934 - October 16, 2000), was Governor of Missouri from 1993 to 2000. He died in a plane crash during a campaign for the U.S. Senate, weeks before the election, after which he was elected posthumously to the office. His opponent was U.S. Senator John Ashcroft, later U. S Attorney General from 2001-2005 in the administration of U.S President George W. Bush.
Paul Wellstone (July 21, 1944 - October 25, 2002), was a two-term U.S. Senator from Minnesota. A Democrat, he served in the Senate from 1991 until his death in a plane crash on October 25, 2002. His wife, Sheila, and daughter, Marcia, also died in the crash. Wellstone's death came just 11 days before his potential re-election in a crucial race to maintain Democratic control of the Senate.
John Fitzgerald Kennedy Jr. (November 25, 1960 - July 16, 1999), was an American lawyer, journalist, socialite, and publisher. He was the son of President John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy and heir apparent to lead the Democratic Party to the White House in future years. On July 16, 1999, Kennedy was killed along with his wife, Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, and his sister-in-law Lauren Bessette, when the aircraft he was flying crashed on a hazy night into the Atlantic Ocean en-route from West Caldwell, New Jersey, to Martha's Vineyard.
Question #3: What are the odds against chance that only Democratic leaders in the U.S. Senate received, or were the intended recipients of, weapons grade, aerosolized anthrax in the 2001 Anthrax Attacks?
Tom Daschle (born December 9, 1947), was a U.S. Senator from South Dakota and the Senate Majority Leader. He is a member of the Democratic Party. He was defeated on November 2, 2004. On October 9, 2001, Daschle's office received a letter containing the highly lethal Ames strain of weapons-grade anthrax bacteria. Many of his staffers were diagnosed with inhalation anthrax and the Congress was closed during Senate consideration of the Patriot Act which was signed into law by President George W. Bush on October 26, 2001. A total of twenty-two people died in the attacks.
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