In a senate that is one heartbeat away from Republican control, Wellstone was more than just another Democrat. He was often the lone voice standing firm against the status-quo policies of both the Democrats and the Republicans. As such, he earned the special ire of the Bush administration and the Republican Party, who made Wellstone's defeat that party's number one priority this year.Other prominent officials meeting untimely deaths in small plane crashes include Texas Democratic Representative Mickey Leland and Clinton administration Commerce Secretary Ronald Brown. Leland had been a six-term member of Congress, outspoken advocate of sanctions against the apartheid government in South Africa. He was traveling to Ethiopia when he was killed. Brown's plane went down in the Balkans. Another suspicious case is that of Gen. Torrijos Herrera, the so-called dictator of Panama. The motive may have been his defiance of Ronald Reagan. Torrijos had 'thumbed his nose at the Reagan/Bush regime and threatened to close the Panama Canal. Like many another fatal flight, the Torrijos flight exploded in flight, disappearing from radar. In common with many another death, the flight took place in severe weather, the plane had dropped off radar. The Torrijos death was most certainly politically motivated. In a pre-trial hearing in Miami, in 1991, Manuel Noriega's attorney, Frank Rubino, was quoted saying: "General Noriega has in his possession documents showing attempts to assassinate General Noriega and Mr. Torrijos by agencies of the United States." Mel Carnahan was not the only politician from Missouri to meet an untimely end. Jerry Litton was running for the Senate when he and his family were 'plane crashed in August of 1976 enroute to a victory celebration in Kansas City. In 1978, Dick Obershain had just won Virginia from John Warner. He was 'plane crashed'near Richmond, VA. Who benefited? John Warner who now heads the Senate Armed Service Committee. In 1980, John Lennon, who had written poignantly of a world free of religious and political ideology, was shot to death by Mark David Chapman. Chapman was improbably connected with/to John Hinckley Sr, the father of the man, accused of shooting Ronald Reagan. Hinckley Sr was president of World Vision, a right wing evangelical association which had employed Lennon's killer --Mark David Chapman. Ominously Hinckley's organization is deeply connected to the CIA and has helped 'the company' in numerous 'projects'. Hinckley's largest contributor is none other than the US Department of State. I smell a rat, murder, and right wing subversion! [See: MarkWhite.com] Among the numerous assassinations and strange deaths that have come to characterize American politics, the case of Gary Caradori --a retired state police investigator --is among the most weird and hints at the negative, evil, Satanic underbelly of American political culture. The Nebraska Senate had hired Caradori to investigate a "homosexual prostitution ring" that appeared to be operating right out of the White House. The Washington Times broke the story, reporting "...a homosexual prostitution ring is under investigation by federal and District authorities and includes among its clients key officials of the Reagan and Bush administrations, military officers, congressional aides and US and foreign businessmen with close ties to Washington's political elite."...
Wellstone now joins the ranks of other American politicians who died in small plane crashes. Another recent victim was Missouri's former Democratic governor, Mel Carnahan, who lost his life in 2000, three weeks before Election Day, during his Senatorial race against John Ashcroft. Carnahan went on to become the first dead man to win a Senatorial race, humiliating and defeating the unpopular Ashcroft posthumously. Ashcroft, despite his unpopularity, went on to be appointed Attorney General by George W. Bush. Investigators determined that Carnahan's plane went down due to "poor visibility." Carnahan was the second Missouri politician to die in a small plane crash. The first was Democratic Representative Jerry Litton, whose plane crashed the night he won the Democratic nomination for senate in 1976. His Republican opponent ultimately captured the seat from his successor in November. While an article in the New York Times on Saturday pointed out the danger politicians face due to their heavy air travel schedules, the death of a senator or member of Congress is still relatively rare, with only one other sitting US Senator, liberal Republican John Heinz, dying in a plane crash since World War II. Heinz, who entered office as an outspoken opponent of the Vietnam War, later emerged as a strong proponent of health care, social services, public transportation and the environment. He also urged reconciliation with Cuba. He died when the landing gear on his small plane failed to function, and a helicopter dispatched to survey the problem crashed into his plane. One former senator, John Tower, also died in a small plane crash. Tower was best known as the chair of the Tower Commission, which investigated the Reagan/Bush era Iran/Contra scandal. Another member of a prominent government commission who died in a small plane crash was former Democratic representative and House Majority Leader Hale Boggs. Boggs was best known as one of the seven members of the Warren Commission, which investigated the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The commission found that Lee Harvey Oswald was acting alone when he killed the president. Boggs, it turns out, had "strong doubts" that Oswald acted alone, but went along with the commission findings. Later, in 1971 and 1972, he went public with his doubts. He was presumed dead after the small plane carrying him and Democratic Representative Nicholas Begich disappeared in 1972. --Was Paul Wellstone Murdered, Alternet
Perhaps because Gary Caradori is no longer with us, the names of the Bush and Reagan officials involved in this queer ring, said to have also involved child pornography or even worse, will probably never be known. There were recent echoes of this scandal. Who recalls Jeff Gannon, Bush's gay boy who often posed as a reporter until his cover was blown when his nude photos were publicly circulated? Before he was murdered, Caradori had been investigating Lawrence E. King Jr., an influential black Republican, a close friend of George H. W. Bush! A director of the Franklin Community Credit Union in Omaha, King was suspected of embezzling $40 million. It was during this investigation that the subject of child prostitution came up. The Nebraska Senate found itself questioning child prostitutes who accused King of running a child prostitution ring. One of them reported seeing George H.W. Bush at one of King's 'parties'. It was then that Schmidt was warned to drop his investigation amid fears that it would reach the highest levels of the GOP. Indeed, various international news organizations reported that the "scandal implicated not only Bush Sr but politicians 'close to the White House'. It was the kiss of death. Gary Caradori and his six year old son were killed as passengers in a small plane that exploded in mid-air. The cause was never discovered. Cardori had told friends that he was afraid that his plane would be sabotaged.
