RIP Sen. Daniel Inouye

by: Phoenix Rising Tue December 18, 2012 at 2:21 AM MDT

( – promoted by Colorado Pols)

This will be a brief hit:

Hawaii Senator Daniel Inouye has died at the age of 88 after a battle with a respiratory illness.

His last words are reported to have been “Aloha”.

Full story: RIP Sen. Daniel Inouye

8 Community Comments, Facebook Comments

Phoenix Rising says:

Mon December 17, 2012 at 4:26 PM MDT

The state Democratic Party apparently picks three nominees to send to the governor, and the governor (Neil Abercrombie) then picks one of them. That replacement serves until the next general election.

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DavidThi808 says:

Mon December 17, 2012 at 4:31 PM MDT

I don’t agree with everything he did politically, but he was a great American. He served in the 442nd in WWII where he won a Medal of Honor. He was the Godfather of the Hawaii Democratic party for the last 40 some years. And he stayed mentally sharp up to the end. An amazing person.

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Sir Robin says:

Mon December 17, 2012 at 10:06 PM MDT

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allyncooper says:

Tue December 18, 2012 at 5:47 AM MDT

Like George McGovern who passed last month, a man whose service and devotion to his country was a true measure of his character.
The Greatest Generation will soon be all gone, but their sacrifices and accomplishments have set a standard for generations to come.

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Gray in Mountains says:

Tue December 18, 2012 at 9:33 AM MDT

thank you Senator Inoye for your lifetime of service.

Like most I think I first became aware of him during the Watergate hearings. Never flashy. Always substantive

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Phoenix Rising says:

Mon December 17, 2012 at 6:03 PM MDT

A second generation Japanese-American, joined the Army at 18 to fight in Europe. Almost died but was saved bullet deflected off of a pair of silver dollars he kept in his shirt (real movie material there…); lost his right arm in Italy from a German grenade.
First Congressman for the new State of Hawaii in 1953. Inouye was the most senior Senator, making him Senate President Pro-Tempore (since Sen. Byrd died; the position now falls to Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont). Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Sat on both the Watergate and Iran-Contra investigative committees (he co-chaired the latter).

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BlueCat says:

Mon December 17, 2012 at 6:56 PM MDT

Aloha to a great spirit.

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Phoenix Rising says:

Mon December 17, 2012 at 7:51 PM MDT

Inouye apparently asked Gov. Abercrombie to appoint Colleen Hanabusa to fill his post. Hanabusa deferred to Mazie Hirono for this year’s Senate opening for retiring Sen. Daniel Akaka’s seat.
Hawaii has no shortage of possible replacements, though. Provided Ed Case isn’t on the list, I don’t think Democrats have anything to worry about in the choice of replacements.

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