I’d love to write about how much Senator Edward Kennedy did in his life and help honor one of the great contemporary men of the Senate, but the Rude Pundit did a much finer job than I could ever imagine. So as a brazen scrape, here’s the essentials of his post.
Do you like being able to vote starting at age 18? Thank Ted Kennedy.
Do you think low-income people should get help with heating their homes in the winter? Thank the man.
Do you think the federal government should fund cancer research? Yep.
Do you believe that Meals on Wheels is a good thing? Ditto.
Does your daughter (or you, if you’re female) like playing soccer or basketball or softball at school? That’d be because of Ted Kennedy.
Do you think that disabled people should be able to go to school? Have access to buildings? Not be discriminated against for housing and loads of other things? Kennedy, big time.
You like your cheap airfares? You know the answer.
You think people on welfare oughta get jobs? So did Kennedy.
You think mental institutions should treat people humanely? Yeah, so did your new friend, Ted Kennedy.
You believe that the Defense Department should provide child care for the kids of soldiers? Kennedy did.
You think a woman shouldn’t lose her job if she gets pregnant? You think 100,000 more cops on the street’s a good idea? You think poor kids should have health care? You think soldiers in Iraq should have the proper armor? Just tick those things off the list. Some of them would have been accomplished without him; many would not have been.
You agreed with Ted Kennedy far, far more than you want to think you did, dear conservatives. Still, go ahead and dance your mad jigs on his still-warm corpse. Why not? We on the left certainly did when Jerry Falwell, Strom Thurmond, and Jesse Helms kicked. Hell, one asshole blogger even celebrated the death of Ann Coulter’s father. But know that you dance in ignorance. Ask Orrin Hatch.
But, of course, you want to address the far more pressing issue of whether or not Ted Kennedy killed Mary Jo Kopechne back at Chappaquiddick all those decades ago, no matter what the investigations said. There’s only a couple of things to say about that: The glib response is, “Yeah, and Thomas Jefferson nailed his slaves. What’s your point?” More directly, Kennedy asked the people of Massachusetts if they wanted him to quit. They did not. The rest of the nation may have not wanted him as president, but for Massachusetts, Chappaquiddick quickly became a settled issue and distant history. That’s all that mattered to keep him in the Senate, just like Louisiana will have to judge whether or not a prostitute-lovin’ David Vitter should go back. That’s democracy, gang, like it or not.
And Ted Kennedy did more for real, actual democracy than almost anyone else in our entire history as a nation.
His allies and foes alike admired and respected him. As Biden said this morning, he made everyone bigger – he made our country bigger. His was a life of great service, despite great tragedy. I don’t know yet if this means more trouble for health care or not, but I hoping that they name a bill the Senator Ted Kennedy Bill and get it right, in his name.
And he and O.J can spend eternity together discussing there crimes.
And although his intentions may have been noted, dont forget to look at the state in wich his throne sat.
It’s ridiculously riddled with corruption. More than any other state in the U.S (my opinion…not fact. Massachusetts, is a great example of what liberalism out of control looks like. The ammount of silliness that goes on… and THAT is his legacy.
(that and the girl he killed and got away with… I wonder if him and O.J. ever went golfing?)
So, “Good Riddance” eh, Trent? Nice. Thank God we have the likes of you and Nash – beacons of compassion, a light of hope and balance.
May you have a life surrounded by archetypes and symptoms of the attitude you’ve put out there and karmic imprint you’ve created.
I suppose if I kill someone and get away with it Perk, that might be the case.
I wonder why O.J. got such a bad rap.
They both killed someone. I wonder if it’s because you favor the rich white man Perk. Maybe you ARE racist.
That s.o.b. should have been in prison. Period!
And if you give me the whole ‘But look at all the good he’s done’, I’ll remind you that anyone who is in prison might have a chance to do good things, if they we’rnt in prison. Thats not the way it works. You kill someone you go to jail, unless your family is rich and powerfull and can save your sorry ass.
@ They both killed someone: if you think that what happened in Chappaquiddick was the same as what OJ did to his ex wife, then you are even more deluded than I’d thought.
Give it a rest Trent.
The “last call” lion. roflmao: roflmao: roflmao: