Tom Lantos dies at 80

by Eszter Hargittai on February 11, 2008

California representative Tom Lantos died earlier today. I’ll take this opportunity to mention the Oscar-winning film The Last Days (I’ve blogged about it before here). It’s a very powerful documentary in which Lantos is one of the five people featured. My one critique of The Last Days movie was that it ignored the plight of people like my grandmother (who died twenty years ago last week, at almost 80) and father who went back to Hungary after their time in a camp instead of emigrating. That doesn’t detract from the value of The Last Days. But I think it’s important to recognize that there is a sufficiently different outcome from very similar circumstances depending on where one went after those horrors. In any case, I learned about many things from watching that film, including details about Tom Lantos that may be lesser known. I thought this was a good occasion to mention the documentary again.

{ 4 comments }

1

RedCharlie 02.11.08 at 11:19 pm

Cancer of the throat is a painful way to die.

Let us hope our country does not meet a similar fate after having to swallow an unbeliveable volume of right-wing crap over the past eight years.

2

bernarda 02.12.08 at 11:55 am

There is not much to like about Lantos. An article about one of his campaigns.

http://tinyurl.com/36s52f

“Lantos will face two challengers in the Democratic primary Tuesday, March 2. Both are lawyers and one, Maad Abu-Ghazalah, is Palestinian-born.

But the greatest threat to Lantos’ hold on his seat is not Abu-Ghazalah, but Ro Khanna, an Indian-American.

Khanna is a 27-year-old newcomer to politics, whose youth and opposition to the war in Iraq align with the results of polls showing that 12th District voters — meaning those not only in San Mateo, but in parts of San Francisco — overwhelmingly opposed the war in Iraq and the Patriot Act, while the 76-year-old Lantos voted in favor of both.

Khanna’s Jewish endorsements include Rabbi Pam Frydman Baugh, spiritual leader of Or Shalom Jewish Community.

“Ro Khanna opposes the Patriot Act and Bush’s policy on preventative war, and I believe these are the majority views in our district,” said Baugh. “He also seems to take a measured and nuanced approach to the Middle East, which is supportive of Israel, but also sensitive to the plight of the Palestinians.”

Khanna attended several Jewish-Palestinian dialogue group meetings in San Mateo to help shape his Mideast policy. He has also met with AIPAC staffers.

But just as Khanna has earned the support of some of the more grassroots organizations, Lantos — a Hungarian-born Holocaust survivor — has the endorsements of most of the Democratic establishment, including the California Democratic Party. The Jewish establishment is also firmly behind Lantos, as he has the support of the Raoul Wallenberg Jewish Democratic Club.”

– Lantos the warmonger.

“Tom Lantos is a leader in every sense of the word. He’s courageous, and has dedicated his life to human rights and social justice.”

– Except for the Palestinians.

3

bernarda 02.12.08 at 10:27 pm

I see you didn’t like my post on Lantos. Oh well.

4

abb1 02.13.08 at 5:50 pm

I can’t find a torrent for this documentary, unfortunately.

Anyhow, why wouldn’t the outcomes be different even for those who went to the same place after those horrors?

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