Eulogy for Dead Pol: ‘Words Do Kill’

Former Sen. John Danforth criticized the Missouri's political culture at the funeral for Tom Schweich, a gubernatorial candidate who committed suicide last week. “Words do hurt. Words can kill,” Danforth said Tuesday. “That has been proven right here in our home state." Schweich announced he was runing for the Republican nomination for governor and then became the target of a smear campaign over the radio. The chairman of the Missouri GOP even told people Schweich was Jewish (he wasn’t). “Let’s pledge that we will not put up with any whisper of anti-Semitism,” Danforth said. ”We will stand against it as Americans and because our own faith demands it. We will take the battle Tom wanted to fight as our own cause. This will be our memorial to Tom: that politics as it now exists must end, and we will end it. And we will get in the face of our politicians, and we will tell them that we are fed up, and that we are not going to take this anymore.”