The Democratic congresswoman Barbara Lee has always stood apart, a matter-of-fact renegade with a long list of firsts.
In high school, she was the first Black student to integrate her southern California cheerleading squad. During her more than two decades in Congress, she has been the only Black woman elected to the US House from California’s regions north of Los Angeles.
But it was Lee’s lonely 2001 vote as the only lawmaker against the authorization for the use of US military force against those responsible for the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington that indelibly set her apart.
TVNL Comment: Hail and Farewell, Rep Lee. Thank you for your bravery, your willingness to support the truth, and your refusl to sanction the war against Iraq.
Senator Mitch McConnell announced he will not run for re-election next year, bringing an end to...
