Ellen Carmichael’s thread about her former boss Herman Cain after his passing earlier today is just the sort of thing we needed to see after reading the unbelievable hatred and ugliness on Twitter. Snark aside, when did so many Americans lose their ability to simply say nothing if they can’t say something nice, especially after someone dies?
Awful.
Ellen’s thread is lovely:
I’m very saddened to learn of the passing of my former boss, Herman Cain. I’m bracing for the cruelty online about how he deserved to get COVID and die because of his politics. We’re living in a dark time. But, they didn’t know him. I did.
— Ellen Carmichael (@ellencarmichael) July 30, 2020
So maybe they should listen to Ellen.
At the age of 23, I served as the communications director for Herman Cain’s presidential campaign. It was a chaotic experience, which explains how someone fresh out of college could find herself explaining away gaffe after gaffe from an unpolished candidate.
— Ellen Carmichael (@ellencarmichael) July 30, 2020
Admittedly, it’s not a job I could do now at 32. It was really hard and exhausting. But Herman Cain made it worth while. He was a giant of a person in ways that people who would choose to see him merely as a caricature could never understand.
— Ellen Carmichael (@ellencarmichael) July 30, 2020
His American Dream story is one for the history books. Overcame absolute destitution, genuine discrimination, stage IV cancer and so much hardship in between. Rose up the ranks of America’s biggest corporations, advised presidential campaigns, chaired a Federal Reserve bank…
— Ellen Carmichael (@ellencarmichael) July 30, 2020
Amazing.
This is a man who grew up in a house that had three rooms in it. His mother was a domestic worker (he would never say “maid”), and his dad worked three jobs to survive. He and his brother would argue over who would get to sleep on the cot and who had to sleep on the floor.
— Ellen Carmichael (@ellencarmichael) July 30, 2020
After successfully completing college as a “Morehouse Man,” a distinction he proudly carried with him his whole life, he became a rocket scientist for the Dept. of the Navy. Quite literally a rocket scientist. I guess that degree in math and physics helped.
— Ellen Carmichael (@ellencarmichael) July 30, 2020
Rose up the ranks of Coca-Cola, Pillsbury and Pepsi. Turned Godfather’s Pizza around from bankruptcy to solvency in 14 months. FOURTEEN MONTHS. This man knew business and he knew people. His signature approach was to go to the people closest to the problem to solve it. It worked.
— Ellen Carmichael (@ellencarmichael) July 30, 2020
He singularly took down HillaryCare when he had the tenacity to school President Clinton on basic economics in a townhall. Clinton, smug as ever, smirked as he thought Cain would side with him. He was wrong. Herman humiliated him. https://t.co/gF2NLaL5pU
— Ellen Carmichael (@ellencarmichael) July 30, 2020
He won the attention and admiration of Jack Kemp, who flew to Omaha to sit in an airport and talk to Cain for hours. They became lifelong friends, and Kemp had him serve as an economic adviser for Dole/Kemp in 1996. Herman was devastated when Kemp died of cancer.
— Ellen Carmichael (@ellencarmichael) July 30, 2020
Kemp’s death inspired Herman to fight his own battle against stage IV liver and colon cancer. Miraculously, he beat cancer. I remember him telling me how much he loved and missed Jack Kemp, and how he had wanted to beat cancer because Kemp couldn’t.
— Ellen Carmichael (@ellencarmichael) July 30, 2020
I won’t go much into his presidential campaign because a lot has been said about it already. I will just share one story in particular. Herman had gotten into a lot of trouble for (wrong) remarks he made about wanting to stop the construction of a mosque in Tennessee.
— Ellen Carmichael (@ellencarmichael) July 30, 2020
He understandably got a lot of blowback on this. But, members of a northern Virginia mosque opened their doors to him. They educated him. They broke bread with him. They had him speak to summer campers. He called me from the airport, voice cracking from holding back tears…
— Ellen Carmichael (@ellencarmichael) July 30, 2020
We did not know this story … wow.
…he told me how wrong he had been, how wonderful of a time he had and how they invited him to speak at a future Friday service. His life was clearly changed by the experience. I hung up the phone and cried myself.
— Ellen Carmichael (@ellencarmichael) July 30, 2020
Just as I am crying now. Working for Herman had a lot of challenges – working for any campaign does. But, he was a really good person. He really, really was. And despite the challenges he faced in his life, he deeply loved his country with his whole heart. Please believe that.
— Ellen Carmichael (@ellencarmichael) July 30, 2020
He really, really was a good person.
Sadly, that doesn’t matter to people who are happy to dance on his grave if that means they can hurt Trump or Republicans in general. See Ana Navarro.
Finally, I wish I could tell him this:
Thank you. You changed my life forever when you took a chance on me – a 23-year-old recent college graduate who foolishly thought she could be a presidential campaign spokeswoman.
Rest in peace Herman. May you have your eternal reward.
— Ellen Carmichael (@ellencarmichael) July 30, 2020
RIP, Mr. Cain.
And much respect for Ellen for sharing this.
We need more of it.
***
Related:
‘Can you at least TRY and hide your glee?’ Ana Navarro out-awfuls the worst of the WORST grave-dancing on Herman Cain’s passing
‘Bought and PAID FOR’: Tweep who didn’t believe the WHO was a propaganda arm tweets DAMNING thread on what changed their mind
Who they REALLY are –> Vox’s Aaron Rupar can’t even wait 30 minutes to dance on Herman Cain’s grave in DUNK on Trump
