Sorry I didn't apologize sooner to Stephanie Tubbs Jones

In the aftermath of the sudden death of Ohio Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones, there will no shortage of remembrances, tributes and other well-deserved honors for this dedicated public servant.   

There will also be an apology.  This one. 

Tubbs Jones had served in Congress for a decade, but her national profile rose considerably as perhaps the most ardent and passionate supporter of Senator Hillary Clinton and her presidential aspirations.

Her reason for her unwavering supporting of Hillary was simple, yet still surprising in our cynical political climate: She had given her word and she wasn't going to back away from it.

A politician sticking by their word?  Look out the window and see if any pigs fly by.

At the exact time when Obama's star was shooting high and Clinton's was drooping low, Tubbs Jones was a constant figure on the cable news channels relentlessly and energetically talking up Hillary. In one memorable episode Tubbs Jones appeared on "Hardball" with another Democratic congressman supporting Obama and when it was obvious he was woefully unfamiliar with Obama's legislative accomplishments, Tubbs Jones pounced on him and beat him stupid (only in a rhetorical way and with a toothy grin all the time she was demolishing the poor guy).

Tubbs Jones caught a lot of grief for not feeling the Obama love and especially from his supporters in the Black blogosphere.  She wouldn't back down.  She didn't do the politically expedient thing and ditch Clinton when her campaign began to implode.  She did the politically honorable thing and kept her word.   

At the time though in the middle of a tough primary fight, many of us didn't appreciate Tubbs Jones unwavering commitment to Clinton.  I know I sure didn't.  It annoyed me to see her unconditional, articulate and total support for the White woman and not the Black man.  Upon reflection, I realize I was wishing Obama had someone as gung-ho as her on his team.

When Clinton's campaign closed up shop, Tubbs Jones dutifully endorsed Obama, but whether she was really drinking the Kool-Aid is doubtful.   Probably not, but in the name of party unity, she was willing to put on a happy face. 

One of my favorite blogs (and one I won't name-check in public) that sweated Tubbs Jones mercilessly during the primaries issued a tepid acknowledgement of her passing saying, "We had our differences.  All the best to her family and friends."

How gracious.  You can almost smell the insincerity. You're supposed to wish the best to the family and friends of someone who dies untimely and suddenly.  You don't get credit for saying what's expected only because you don't want to appear to be rude and insensitive. 

Then again, I wasn't expecting a lot of bloggers to admit maybe Tubbs-Jones was exhibiting a trait seldom seen and often unappreciated.  Loyalty. Tubbs-Jones sincerely believed Hillary Clinton would make a better president than Barack Obama.

Certainly, she did herself no favors by her conspicuous silence while Bill Clinton did his best to belittle and patronize Obama. Her desire to support Hillary hardly excuses the conscious decision to turn a blind eye and deaf ear to the lapses into race-baiting the Clinton campaign occasionally lapsed into. As Malcolm X said, "Wrong is wrong, no matter who does it."

Though I never actually wrote for publication some of the mean things I thought about Congresswoman Tubbs Jones, I'm not proud of myself for having those thoughts. I'm sorry for thinking she was acting like a house Negro though I never said it.

If nothing else, her fierce support for Hillary along with others such as Magic Johnson, Quincy Jones, Representatives John Lewis and Sheila Jackson Lee proved what most of us already knew -- Black people are not monolithic in our thinking and we can support candidates based on the content of their character and not the color of their skin.

Tubbs Jones set it straight; you could actually be for Hillary and still hold it down on the pro-Black agenda.

There is little doubt at next week's Democratic National Convention in Denver, nobody would have been louder, happier and in-your-face than Tubbs Jones when Hillary Clinton took the podium on the night set aside to commemorate her historic presidential run.    

What will fill the empty space she leaves? 

I wonder why Tubbs Jones didn't hyphenate her name.

I suspect it pleased her not to and she wasn't worried if it didn't please anybody else.