Jack Kemp, former quarterback and Top Conservative Died Saturday

It's a shame that after being sick for quite some time apparently Mr Kemp succumbed to his particular illness as was reported by an official spokesperson Edwin J Feulner, who was a campaign adviser of his, at his Bethesda Maryland home outside of Washington.

Kemp had announced in January 2009 that he had been diagnosed with cancer. He said he was undergoing tests but gave no other details at that time and remarkably was able to keep the details private in this day and age of shrinking privacy protections getting smaller by the millisecond under this present Obama regime.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, another leading conservative voice from Ky. called Mr Kemp 'one of the nation's most distinguished public servants. Jack was a powerful voice in American politics for more than four decades.'

I'm sure other top voices in politics will weigh in with well deserved eulogies in the coming days, my memories of him are that I am old enough to remember Kemp's first career, as a premier quarterback of 14 years in the CFL as well as the NFL spent the majority of on one of the crappiest teams in the old AFL, the Buffalo Bills.

A stop where he also spent some quality time in the offensive backfield handing the ball off in between passes to this other well known NFL player and star but rookie at the time, a running back named OJ Simpson, the one once criminally acquitted double murderer later found culpable through a civil judgment now doing time in prison for a clumsy three stooges like armed robbery as most of us know.

After football Kemp served in the Army reserves in the earlier part of his illustrious career as did many star athletes of those days, a far cry from the millionaire crybabies the professional sports leagues are filled with today.

Kemp was one of the original athletes to make the leap into politics following their usually stellar careers, and was again a leading conservative voice also named as Bob Dole's running mate in the failed campaign against Slick and Gore the bore in '96. A man who I'll miss hearing on the talk radio and cable news circuit, and may he rest in peace and prayers to his friends and family for their as well as America's loss..

Here's one of the better anecdotes I came across on the wire this morning demonstrating Kemp's highly competitive spirit and demeanor.

His choice as Dole's 1996 running mate was seen as a way for the Republican Party to reach groups of voter that Dole could not. And it came even after Kemp endorsed Steve Forbes for the nomination - a move many considered political suicide - and declared himself a "recovering politician."

Dole's more sober demeanor contrasted sharply by Kemp's high-spirited personality, which was recalled in various accounts, including one by Marlin Fitzwater, Bush's press secretary.

Fitzwater wrote in his memoirs about a time when Kemp lunged at Secretary of State James Baker III in the Oval Office. The housing secretary was "nagging, nagging, nagging" Bush to recognize the breakaway Soviet satellite of Lithuania and Baker, the color rising in his face, screamed an epithet at Kemp, Fitzwater recalled. Kemp bounded across the furniture and grabbed at Baker's throat. They were pulled apart to avoid a fistfight.

Jack Kemp dead at 73 RIP and you can also read a surprisingly accurate and lengthy entry at Wikipedia on Kemp's awesome career, whom I only recommend as a source for these types of bios.

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