Dale Bumpers: “Senator Cohen has always been in the forefront of issues that really matter, where partisan politics do not have any…”

“Senator Cohen has always been in the forefront of issues that really matter, where partisan politics do not have any role. He has, without fail, been a giant in this body. Those remarks prove conclusively that a lot of people are still in this business because public service is a noble calling. As I say, I do not know of anybody on either side of the aisle that has not expressed profound regret at Senator Cohen's decision to retire at the end of this year. He alluded to the press and how they can very seldom find anything nice to say about a public servant until after they die or retire. Jim Fallows discusses this phenomenon in his book, titled 'Breaking the News: How the Media Undermine American Democracy.' It is a magnificent book, and I recommend it. Fallows has made a couple of speeches in which he talks about this problem. For example, in the weeks before Ron Brown died, the New York Times editorial page was castigating him and a couple days after he died he was praised on that same editorial page.”