Obituaries called to mind

Remembering the above, I feel compelled to take a swag at a couple obits:

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SAN DIEGO (Al-Reuters) - Retired Vice Admiral James Stockdale, who ran for vice president as Ross Perot's running mate in 1992, died Tuesday at his home in Coronado at the age of 81. Stockdale was awarded the Medal of Honor for actions during America's immoral war against Vietnamese peasants, and spent 7 1/2 years in a North Vietnamese prison after being convicted of offenses against indigenous peoples whose only crime was fighting for the freedom of their country.

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EDISON (Al-Reuters) - Grammy award winner Luther Vandross, whose deep, lush voice on such hits as "Here and Now" and "Any Love" sold more than 25 million albums while providing the romantic backdrop for millions of couples worldwide, died Friday at age 54. Vandross overcame the odds inherent in being born black in America to achieve fame, wealth, and stardom in a country that had enslaved African people for four hundred years. The United States to this day practices both overt and subtle oppressive acts against people of color, said Vandross fans gathered outside his Watchung home.

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MIAMI (Al-Reuters) - L. Patrick Gray, whose yearlong stint as acting FBI director was marked by the Watergate break-in and the ensuing scandal that led to President Nixon's resignation, died Wednesday. Gray was often hailed as noble and principled after resisting illegal pressure from a Nixon White House desperate to continue its deceptive cover-up of its unlawful and unconstitutional acts committed to steal the 1972 Presidential Election from George McGovern. Historians recently have begun drawing parallels between the Nixon Administration's handling of Watergate and the current Administration's attempts to suppress the Downing Street Memo and other evidence that suggests unsavory manipulation of intelligence in the rush to war with Iraq.

Gray was 88.