R.I.P. Stephanie Tubbs Jones.

I said some very, very, un-nice things about Ohio Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones during this year's Democratic nomination. I didn't agree with her rationale for supporting Hillary Clinton, as well as her constant, and unnecessary jabs at Barack Obama. But of course, she is entitled to her opinion and as my mom told me, Hillary is her friend above all else. So, I guess this eventually made her tactics more understandable if not more palatable.

That said, it's always sad to hear about someone passing unexpectedly, and it puts comparatively simple things like politics in their proper perspective.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, the first black woman to represent Ohio in Congress and a strong critic of the Iraq war, died Wednesday after a brain hemorrhage, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Tubbs Jones, 58, died Wednesday evening of a brain hemorrhage caused by an aneurysm that burst and left her with limited brain function. The liberal Democrat, first elected in 1998, suffered the hemorrhage while driving her car in Cleveland Heights Tuesday night, said Dr. Gus Kious, president of Huron Hospital. The car went out of control and crossed lanes of traffic before coming to a stop, police said. An officer found the ailing lawmaker.

Tubbs Jones represented the heavily Democratic 11th District and chaired the ethics committee in the House. She was the first black woman to serve on the powerful Ways and Means Committee, where she opposed President Bush's tax cuts and his efforts to create personal accounts within Social Security.

Tubbs Jones was a passionate opponent of the Iraq war, voting in 2002 against authorizing the use of military force.

Just as the war was starting in March 2003, she was one of only 11 House members to oppose a resolution supporting U.S. troops in Iraq. She said she did so because the resolution connected Iraq to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and said Iraq poses a continued threat to the United States.

Neither of those claims had been proved, she said, adding that was why the United States couldn't persuade the United Nations to support an attack.

In 2005, Tubbs Jones opposed certifying President Bush's re-election because of questionable electoral results in her home state.

Tubbs Jones had served as a Cuyahoga County Common Pleas judge and prosecutor before running for political office.

Addressing the Democratic National Convention in 2004, Tubbs Jones recalled her parents, who "punched a clock day in and day out — one as a skycap, the other as a factory worker," until the day they saw their daughter representing their hometown as a congresswoman.

If there's one downside to blogging, it's the virtual papertrail that exists with every post you write that casts a person in a negative light. One such example would be my 13 Debits To The Black Race piece, where I included Tubbs Jones alongside the likes of Robert Kelly and Pastor David Manning. This was stupid, and I've since modified the post, so don't go there gawking. Lord knows I feel like enough of a d-bag already.

My prayers are with the Jones family.

US Rep. Tubbs Jones of Ohio dies after hemorrhage [AP]