Senator Ted Kennedy
August 26th, 2009
He was, of course, the only Kennedy brother we got to watch grow old.
Joe died young fighting in WWII; Jack and Bobby were assassinated in each of their life’s prime by the right-wing, neo-Fascist madness that continues to poison this country; Ted died last night at the age of 77 after a lengthy fight against brain cancer.
I heard the news of his death early this morning as I was driving my 5-year-old daughter Molly to her kindergarten class. She was belted into the seat behind me looking at the illustrations in, “Bedknobs and Broomsticks,” or, as she insists, “reading” her current favorite book.
The sun was pouring bright morning light over the country roads that take us into the nearby town where Molly goes to class when I tuned in to CNN on Sirius radio. Wolf Blitzer was talking with correspondent Dana Bash about Senator Kennedy’s passing at 11:30 last night. My first reaction was a profound sadness – and a rush of hot tears that momentarily refracted the sunlight into blurry flashes of gold and yellow against the still shadowed macadam road.
And that surprised me. Why this reaction? Why the tears? I don’t know. I was not hearing of the death of a friend or a family member. While Ted Kennedy’s journey certainly was embedded in my consciousness, a person who traveled with me as a part of my own life’s experiences, he was always removed, like the central character in a novel that one reads and then reads again. Perhaps the announcement was simply another reminder of the scope of the tragedy that has been the Kennedy Family - a monumental Shakespearean tragedy, far beyond what any family should be fated to endure.
Or maybe it was yet another notice – and they seem to be arriving daily – of my own mortality, my own profound insignificance; the accelerating passage of time that demands attention, finally, in every person’s life. The insistent awareness that the river flows more rapidly the further it travels toward its ultimate destination.
Maybe it was neither of these. Maybe it was simply the juxtaposition of CNN’s reporting of his death and the presence of my daughter reading her book in the seat behind me as we drove through the early morning sunshine to her second day of kindergarten.
- MDM
Posted in mike's blog
What can I say except the last of the true greats of democracy is finally laid to rest. What intrigued me about him and the entire Kennedy clan in the first place what that great “The Dream Shall Never Die” speech back in 1980. I was only ten at the time but even so he moved me in such a way no politician had moved me then and since (Obama came close during his campaign last year). I remember my mother (who was equally moved) telling me “if you thought that was good, you should have heard Jack and Bobby.”
That’s what led me to study the Kennedy brothers on a much deeper level. To make a long story short, simply put, these three great men, all of whom born with silver spoons in their mouths, had all the money in the world, went to the finest institutions of higher learning (ie. Harvard) could have had anything they wanted; but all sacrificed for you and me. They didn’t have to give but they gave anyway for the true freedom and democracy of this nation. And unlike cowardly, Harry Reid, they stood up for what they believe and refused to be swayed or bought-out by the extreme right-wing neo-Fascist machine controlling this country now. As an African-American, the brothers gave us a platform to speak about what was wrong with the country in terms of Civil Rights. Under a Bush/Cheney criminal regime, Malcolm X and MLK would’ve been immediately detained and sent to Gitmo under the “Patriot Act.”
And I end by saying, wouldn’t it be great that America finally got its act together and pass this Single-Payer (Public Option) Health Care Reform Bill that this poor man has been struggling to fight for in honor of him.
August 26, 2009 — Just one more Kennedy story
With the sad passing of Senator Ted Kennedy after a long battle with brain cancer the stories about Kennedy will dominate the 24×7 chatter-news programs.
Although I have met Kennedy only a few times over the years, there was one meeting that deserves just one more Kennedy story.
It was October 2004, prior to the presidential election and this editor was attending the funeral of President John F. Kennedy’s press secretary Pierre Salinger at Holy Trinity Church in Georgetown. I was sitting with some of Salinger’ colleagues from ABC News, where he once worked.
All of a sudden, walking between the pews was the larger-than-life Ted Kennedy, his wife Victoria behind him. Kennedy sat next to me, said good morning, and shook my hand. The day before, Kennedy had delivered an impassioned speech on the Senate floor, in which he tore into George W. Bush and his Iraq war policy. I thanked Kennedy for his hard-hitting speech against Bush. He thanked me in return and said something that I remember to this day: “this president is a travesty!” Indeed, travesty, which means to “imitate grotesquely or absurdly.” Yes, Bush imitated all past presidents, including Ted Kennedy’s assassinated brother, grotesquely and absurdly. It was a great choice of a descriptive word for Bush by Kennedy. And one could picture Jack and Bobby Kennedy nodding in approval.
As President Obama continues to employ Bush policies on war, torture, rendition, the Federal Reserve, Latin America, and corporate bailouts, he should remember the words of Ted Kennedy about Bush. You don’t want to become a grotesque and absurd imitation of a president, Mr. Obama.
Ted Kennedy, RIP.
Tomorrow is my 47th birthday. I have never known life without the Kennedy brothers. I also burst into tears upon hearing the news this morning. I have studied the Kennedys for years, and I can’t help but compare their record of sacrifice and public service to that of the Bush family, who do nothing but lie, cheat and steal to give to their millionaire cronies. The Kennedy family is so remarkable, and their like will never be seen again.
I cannot fathom how the senator was able to live through and get his family through all of the tragedies they have experienced, as well as fighting so hard for decades to help this nation. He was truly a giant among men.
RIP Senator Kennedy – you will be so greatly missed. Much love to your devastated family.
I just watched a clip with the weeping Sen. Byrd giving his condolences and that’s when I lost it. I couldn’t hold back my own tears. Now I know why I cried and I think I know why Mike and a lot of others have cried. It’s because Ted, along with his older brothers reached us, the common people, within the core of hearts and nervous systems. Even a lot of Republicans had respect for this great man. This is deeper than politics!
Think about what types of legislating bills that he led to pass.
Medicare (that Reagan back in ’61 criticized as Socialized Care)
Civil Rights Bill of ’64 and ’65 (that “Poppy” Bush, then Congressional Rep and CIA asset vehemently opposed)
Pushing for various rights and equality for Women
One caller on a lib talk show started to compare and contrasts the legacies of two dynasties (Kennedys and Bushies). And what it all boiled to was one family tried to help people in this world – the poor, the sick, the elderly, people of color, women, and even political opponents; whereas the other tried and actually conquered people through manipulation, lies, intimidation, and in several cases outright murder and mayhem.
Senator Kennedy will be missed as a strong voice in the Senate. Too bad we could get health care passed before he passed away.
I was thinking maybe people could go over the contracts from the health care corporations and publicly expose the clauses that show where the companies legally use their boards of directors or special panels to deny health care, deny your choice of doctor, deny us choice of medical facility, deny or ration medicines, deny payment for tests recommended by the doctor, deny life saving procedures, etc. This will irrefutably show line by line these private insurance companies are only interested in profits, not service to we, the people.
the following link made me cry:
http://vineyardsaker.blogspot.com/2009/08/googling-sibel-edmonds.html
Rest in peace.
[...] [...]
Great memorial tonight at the JFK library for Teddy.
Contrary to what the wags are saying, the death of Ted Kennedy did not mark the end of an era; Teddy provided a path to the future, like Paul Wellstone did.
Today, we have people like Bernie Sanders, Tom Udall and Russ Feingold to lead the way in the Senate, Sheila Jackson-Lee, Raúl Grijalva, Lynn Woolsey, Dennis Kucinich and many more in the House. While Ted Kennedy never was a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, he might as well had been one of the founders.
[...] Malloy, he seems to be the liberal equivalent of a Rush Limbaugh. Here’s a comment from a blog post by him on the death of Edward Kennedy: He was, of course, the only Kennedy brother we got to watch [...]