Passing of Tom Coburn

Former senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma passed away a couple of days ago.  Coburn was an idiosyncratic individual.  I believe he served his country well, as he saw fit, even though there was not much on which we would politically agree.   And he had a habit of screwing up the basic works of government at times.

He was an MD who continued to practice medicine while in the House and Senate, and he tried in his own ways to control government excess and overspending, even though I think he made poor choices at times in his quest to do that.  The goal was good, and he made efforts to get there, but his opposition to basic scientific research that sounded "meaningless" or "wasteful" was, at times, misguided.

So, Tom, here's to you.  I think you were a patriot.  And you can't spell "patriot" without PITA.

Political maverick Oklahoma US Senator Tom Coburn, who railed against government subsidies for the rich, dies at the age of 72