Longtime Massachusetts Senator Edward M. Kennedy passed away last night at the age of 77. He leaves a mixed and confusing legacy that historians will still be reckoning with fifty years from now. His career is proof that a lifetime of privilege and its attendant advantages need not make one callous to the suffering of the less fortunate who are so often denied those advantages. Former DNC Chair Paul G. Kirk called him "the most accomplished and effective legislator for economic and social justice in the history of our country," which is probably fair to say. One of the sadder aspects of his passing is that we've lost a politician who was able to bridge partisan divides in an age where that skill is too often scorned. To learn more about Ted Kennedy, read the entire Internet today.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
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I'm avoiding the internet today as I would rather not read republitards vicious and hateful slurs about Teddy.
I agree.
I have not been so wise as you, Sir. It's fucking harrowing.
Guess I'm visiting the wrong sites...thankfully.
Par exemple: "And another thing - would he have lived to 77 had he been forced to use Obama(doesn’t)Care? No way - he was an old fart with a terminal illness. Take a pill, go home and die. Not that that’s a bad thing, in his case." And that is one of the less awful.
I can't help but notice no 'Summer of Death' tag ?
I'll weigh in, observationally. Disclaimer: his politics and policy moves were, by and large, important and brilliant in my opinion. His legislative prowess legendary, by any analysis.
One encounter was during the '80 presidential campaign. He spoke on my campus, in a hall that held 2000 people. The place was packed and rowdy. It was the waning days of the First Great Dope Era, and the Friday late-afternoon throng was goodly stoked.
Ted seemed up to the challenge. Farrah or Joaquin on Letterman had nothing on his performance. Charitably, he was bellicose; accurately, he seemed bombed. He was incoherent, Tourettish, fulsome with inchoate bluster. He was a mess.
Someone behind us--a Downstate hick, by his inbred twang (my provenance, so I know), during one of the very few silences, loudly drawled, "Slim Whitman for President!" The remark echoed hollowly off the rotunda, amid jeers, catcalls, a few bemused chuckles.
From the rostrum, Ted pointed directly at the man behind us, and roared: 'YES!! WHAT HE SAID!"
Rest in peace, if you can.
The expanded version of your fine comment can be found here:
http://men.style.com/gq/features/landing?id=content_5585