Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, the liberal lion of the Senate and haunted bearer of the Camelot torch after two of his brothers fell to assassins' bullets, has died at his home in Hyannis Port after battling a brain tumor. He was 77.
We knew it was coming. It is certainly not a surprise. Yet still......
The man who was president on the day that I took my first breath was John F. Kennedy. I have long been enamored of the Kennedy mystique and have read numerous books on the Kennedy presidency and the Kennedy family.
I remember how shocked and angry I was when John Kennedy Jr. died in that plane crash ten years ago. It seemed that no other family had suffered through as much tragedy as this family had suffered. So many great men taken away much too early. Well before they had done the great things that we all knew they were capable of doing.
At the very least we can say that Edward Kennedy was able to make the impact on the world that he wanted to make. He never became President, but his work as a Senator is unparalleled.
And as this quote illustrates he was a man after my own heart.
Thus, the controversy about the Moral Majority arises not only from its views, but from its name - which, in the minds of many, seems to imply that only one set of public policies is moral and only one majority can possibly be right. Edward Kennedy
Thank you AKM for sending me the quote, and thank you Senator Kennedy for all that you have done for the citizens of this country.
Namaste
Thus, the controversy about the Moral Majority arises not only from its views, but from its name - which, in the minds of many, seems to imply that only one set of public policies is moral and only one majority can possibly be right. Edward Kennedy
ReplyDeleteVale, EM Kennedy. You have distinguished yourself.
RIP, Sen. Kennedy. You will be missed.
ReplyDeleteReal heroes are not perfect. They are not without flaws. Real heroes overcome those flaws and push forward, in spite of or, perhaps, because of their mistakes, to do great things. Senator Edward Kennedy was one of those Heroes. RIP Sen. Edward M. Kennedy. You did not fail the legacy of your brothers, the teachings of your parents, or the citizens of the US. You left the world a better place.
ReplyDeleteThank you for caring Senator Kennedy, thank you for your many years of service.
ReplyDeleteVery very sad. Cancer is a terrible disease.
ReplyDeleteSomeone wrote on another blog that Sarah's supporters are celebrating Kennedys death. That is just sick and low class,just like Sarah.
We all share the loss of a great senator. Condolences to his family.
ReplyDeleteMost of Palin's facebook supporters attacking or celebrating Sen. Kennedy's death.
ReplyDeletehttp://bit.ly/3HaFUH
By the way, here is an excellent slideshow about Sen. Kennedy's life:
http://is.gd/2zGmc
A very sad day for America. Let's hope that the media can use it for good and spend this time to remind all of us what progressive liberalism has accomplished and how much remains to be done.
ReplyDeleteSen. Kennedy - you have been a beacon. You have made us proud. You will be missed beyond measure.
He was a great man. He was a human being with flaws. But he cared about real people. He was born into a life of wealth, but he never forgot people who were not.
ReplyDeleteHe will be missed - his voice in the Senate will be remembered. He always listened to those who disagreed.
R.I.P. Senator Kennedy.
Farewell Ted ~
ReplyDeleteIn Nomine Patre, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen ~
My tribute to Ted ===>
http://www.chimpsternation.com/forum?c=showthread&ThreadID=3889
It is a sad day for me and many others. He could have lived the life of the idle rich. Instead he devoted his life to helping the less fortunate.
ReplyDeleteMy best friend just called to tell me. May the memory of Senator Kennedy endure as a blessing. May his family be comforted among all who mourn.
ReplyDeleteThe Lion will be missed. He fought for decades for healthcare for all citizens, he gave it his all. Now is the time for all of us regular citizens to band together and do what we can to continue Senator Kennedy's work. While none of us can ever replace the Lion, together we can make a difference. I for one, will have a Lion painted on my sign at the Austin Tx march on sept 13th, join me by using this as a symbol of our unity in seeing Senator Kennedy's dream fulfilled.
ReplyDeleteFYI - answers.com gives you a working link to the URL ===>
ReplyDeletehttp://www.chimpsternation.com/forum?c=showthread&ThreadID=3889
Thanks so much for sharing that quote from Senator Kennedy. It truly speaks volumes.
ReplyDeleteIt still amazes me that the folks who write on Sarah's Facebook just cannot SPELL! Who are these people? Did no one graduate from high school? Did they skip spelling class?
ReplyDeleteI am also shocked at how evil they are in their comments towards someone who has passed on. Filthy comments over there......
Jeralyn over at TalkLeft says that she has had "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" (a big hit by the Tokens when I was in kindergarten!) rolling around her head today. Me, too. Here they are: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LBmUwi6mEo
ReplyDeleteDamn, damn, damn. What a loss for our country this would have been at any time. But now that the health care battle rages, I know it was so hard for him not to be able to really fight to get this through. I saw on HuffPo where Senator Byrd has requested that the Health Care Reform Bill be named for Senator Kennedy. I certainly think this would be a very fitting tribute. I know he would be so proud. I simply cannot believe that he is gone and have been tearful all day.
ReplyDeleteThat’s a terrible thing for American…and the world; we all lost a great man and also a long legacy of family patriots and supporters to the American people and politics. We will miss you. Condolences to the family.
ReplyDeleteThis is perhaps the best “link” headline I have seen:
ReplyDeleteThe U.S. Senate was the place where Ted Kennedy grew from callow and reckless to the most effective legislator in the history of the institution. By Jonathan Alter
http://www.newsweek.com/id/213702
I was not quite 1 yr old was JPK was killed in WWII. I was serving in the Army when RFK was killed. I was working in an ER in CA when RFK was killed. And now, I am retired as the last last of the 4 brothers has died.
That family has done so much for this country. I so little.
Their legacy will last a long, long time.
RIP Senator Kennedy you have done US ALL proud.
I will be attending a town hall tomorrow in Farmingvile LI, NY. My sign will simply read,
ReplyDeleteLION
"It still amazes me that the folks who write on Sarah's Facebook just cannot SPELL! Who are these people? Did no one graduate from high school? Did they skip spelling class?"
ReplyDeleteThey also perhaps, in attending the public school system in Alaska. Received the same stellar education that Sarah did there! Under the umbrella of education reform and the rearing head of Putin, plus five colleges and two grandsons to boot! So she can understand special needs since she lives it every day! And makes things up also too. Snow!machine.
We teachers, who were handed *government-issued* tests and ordered to train students to regurgitate the approved answers, would like to express our deep sorrow at the loss of this great American. Without his influence, the last six years would have been spent educating and preparing children for higher learning and gainful employment. Without the legislative acumen of this Lion of the Working Class, teachers would have been forced to allow impressionable children to learn how to process and distill information; the horror -- your children would have learned to approach problems logically and with forethought. Fortunately, any teacher who refused to teach to the *government-approved* test was threatened -- and many dedicated educators were rewarded -- with dismissal.
ReplyDeleteTed Kennedy. Directly responsible for "No Child Left Behind". Lion? Hardly.
I understand that people see the Kennedys through rose-colored glasses. But I am still dealing with the fallout from his work -- and mourning an entire generation that was stripped of their right to an education.
As for the rest of Senator Kennedy's purported achievements -- While he sat through nine terms in Congress, we dwindled from a one-paycheck middle class life to a two-paycheck poverty-level existance. The Constitution was set aside while he dined out on his name; our economy was turned over to shadow corporations, women's medical rights, public health care and Veterans' care were gutted. I understand that there are 100 senators -- but the man being feted in absentia was one of the most powerful, and our country crumbled while he lived well.
Kennedy was "tireless" in promoting blue collar rights -- but whistle-blowers during the last eight years ended up chronically unemployed, even in prison -- and Ted, despite all his rhetoric, didn't buck the administration for these heros. And Senator Kennedy was present when union contracts with workers were VOIDED by government -- while vague, back-dated and quickly produced contracts for bonuses with upper-management drones in finance companies were declared fireproof.
In Oregon, the Kennedy cache is proving invaluable to Jackie O's half-brother -- despite having a computer full of images of child pronography, despite the fact that he was reproducing those images, he's been assured, by authorities, that he is NOT facing jail time! After all, it is only his first offense. Without the support of a famous, near-royal family, I know a woman here in Alaska who is paying for the sale of ten pills with three years of her life -- and it is her first offense, as well.
Last week John McCain blamed Senator Kennedy for the lack of progress in the health care debate -- it was a low, classless thing to say about a man who was undoubtedly in a coma at the time. I felt for his family. But having dealt with the results of the man's work, and seeing the actual, long-term results of his work -- which have, for the most part, evaporated from day-to-day lives at most economic levels of society -- I cannot see why we are expected to mourn the man as a great legislator.
As an educator, I can honestly say no man has ever caused more immediate, greater or more lasting damage to our children's lives. Whatever else Ted Kennedy did, "No Child Left Behind" is the reason I shall always remember him.