Kemp

by digby

You’ve probably heard that Jack Kemp has died. I always had a love/hate thing for the guy. He was football hero first in my household growing up, so he seems to have been around forever.

He was a real pioneer in race relations from way back as a member of the NFL and later as a Republican officeholder and was truly a force for good in that regard. He was also an anomaly in the GOP during much of his time in politics, as they pursued the Southern Strategy.

But he was also a Randian fool on the subject of economics and helped the lead the country down the garden path of supply-side economics. His sunny belief that money grew on trees as long as it wasn’t taxed was very, very good for the wealthy in this country. The rest of us, not so much.

One thing’s for sure — there aren’t very many like him left in the part.