(UPDATE: Thanks for all the kind words about Dave; I hope to attend the funeral tomorrow (see below), and to bring a copy of this diary to show his real-world friends and family the impact he had on the greater community.)
As the person who first announced Dave's passing on his own blog and as someone who knew him as part of the Touro community, I thought he deserved his own diary. This is not meant to raise any of the issues the other DFQ diaries are debating, but rather as my tribute to one of the most passionate progressives I ever met.
I first met Dave Weintraub in the courtyard of Touro Law Center's old location in Huntington, NY, during an orientation week student activities fair. Dave was at the table of one of the school's progressive groups (either the campus Democrats or the NYCLU) and we started to chat. This was not long after Air America had launched, and Dave proudly told me that he was the "Big Dave From Queens" who would frequently call into Randi Rhodes' show. Being a Randi Rhodes fan myself, I was suitably impressed, and from then on listened carefully for Dave's contributions.
I don't recall ever having Dave, a night student who worked full-time as a teacher before spending hours studying law, in one of my classes (I teach Internet law classes, and only sometimes at night), but he and I would always have a friendly conversation whenever we passed each other in the hall, and the topic was always about progressive issues. Dave was, in a word, passionate about his beliefs, and proud of his in-your-face opposition to Joe Lieberman (just check out this Google search for many examples) and, as we know here, Sean Hannity (again, a Google search). What got to Dave most of all, I think, was when he perceived hypocrisy; integrity of ideas with which he disagreed never seemed to raise his ire as much as those who he thought said one thing and did another.
I remember seeing Dave stride proudly across the stage at graduation, and have to lean way down to have his academic hood placed around his neck. After that, I lost touch with him for awhile, but when I saw "DaveFromQueens" here on DKos, I quickly established that he was the selfsame Dave I'd known at Touro, and we reconnected. He was pleased that the current group of students were planning debates about the presidential election, and made it a point to come to our new campus to participate. As always, Dave was passionate about then-candidate Obama and why it was so crucial to defeat McCain/Palin, and was absolutely in his element debating politics with the Touro community.
I know that, in recent months, Dave had had a sharp break with the DKos community, and had transferred some of his passion to "revealing" what he saw as the failings of this site, even launching his own blog to write about them. I rarely if ever visited his blog, because I didn't share his conflict with DKos, but nor did I try to argue against him; this was just one more outlet for Dave's passion for what he believed was right. He was also practicing law with his father, and I have no doubt that his passion extended to his representation of his clients.
When I received the message yesterday from Dave's sister (I'd been one of Dave's Facebook friends, and she sent it to all of us), I first hoped it wasn't true, that it was some kind of Internet hoax. Unfortunately, a colleague of mine at Touro (who had very much appreciated and admired Dave) called Dave's sister and verified that Dave had in fact passed away from unknown causes on Saturday. This morning, his sister gave me permission to pass along the following. First, there is a new Facebook group for those who wish to remember Dave; it's not meant for debate but rather memories, so please be respectful. Second, according to his sister,
the funeral will be Tuesday, Feb 17 at IJ Morris, 21 East Deer Park Rd. Dix Hills, N.Y. 11746. Phone (631) 499-6060. Recommended arrival time is 11:45.
Agree with him or not, like him (as I did, very much) or not, one could never accuse David Weintraub, (Big) Dave from Queens, of giving less than his all to the causes in which he believed. He was a teacher, an attorney, an advocate in all ways, and I will miss him. {ProfJonathan}