Eddie Beard was a symbol of that: a Providence housepainter who went to Congress.
He walked the chamber with a brush in the breast pocket of his $50 suits, the only blue-collar rep in the late 1970s.
When he lost in 1980 after three terms, he did not become a lobbyist or corporate guy. He ran a Central Falls tavern for six years, then headed elderly services for the City of Providence.
Eddie that’s what everyone called him was the real deal.
Sadly, just shy of 81, he took his leave from us this week from the toll of Parkinson’s.
I saw some of that when I was perhaps the last journalist to interview him.
Two dozen former Republican members of Congress, including a former representative from Massachusetts, are calling for President Donald Trump s impeachment.
The group sent a joint letter to the current Congress on Monday, writing There is no excuse for nor defense of a President of the United States to actively orchestrate an insurrection on a separate but coequal branch of government. As members of the branch that was under attack â not just politically but physically â you must remove the president from office.
Republican Peter Torkildsen represented Massachusetts 6th congressional district from 1993 to 1997 and said he didn t hesitate when he was asked to sign the letter, which was released by the independent watchdog group the Project On Government Oversight.
Nearly two dozen former GOP lawmakers urge Congress to impeach Trump Print this article
Nearly two dozen former Republican lawmakers are calling for their current party members to support the impeachment of President Trump.
Twenty-two former Republican members of Congress wrote a letter to current GOP lawmakers on Monday saying that supporting the removal of the president would fulfill your constitutional duty to uphold the integrity of the legislative branch and protect American democracy.
The latest impeachment push comes days after the president encouraged his supporters to intimidate lawmakers into overturning the election. The supporters stormed the Capitol, and pandemonium ensued. There were five deaths, a lockdown of the Capitol, and dozens of arrests, but it only temporarily halted Congress before it certified the Electoral College votes for President-elect Joe Biden.