"The future does not belong to those who are content with today, apathetic toward common problems and their fellow man alike, timid and fearful in the face of new ideas and bold projects. Rather it will belong to those who can blend vision, reason and courage in a personal commitment to the ideals and great enterprises of American Society.The words Sen. Kennedy spoke at his brother's funeral 41 years ago still ring true today.
Our future may lie beyond our vision, but it is not completely beyond our control. It is the shaping impulse of America that neither fate nor nature nor the irresistible tides of history, but the work of our own hands, matched to reason and principle, that will determine our destiny. There is pride in that, even arrogance, but there is also experience and truth. In any event, it is the only way we can live."
James Gandolfini, R.I.P
6 hours ago
22 comments:
We should remember Ted Kennedy as a champion for changing people's lives. Its sad when someone who served this country for 47 years, is now the subject of so many cheap shots of immature nut job right wing bloggers who want to talk abut the summer of 1969. Thank you for doing the right thing.
It's nice to see some class these days. Thank you.
He should be treated with the utmost respect because he, of course, has fought for liberal policies. I am sure Mary Jo Kopechne's family gladly traded her for all of his societal advancements.
You know, this kind of garbage, the same kind that's all over Free Republic and Redstate, isn't any more appropriate than when certain liberal members of our society took it upon themselves to delight in the passing of Ronald Reagan or Tony Snow all over Democratic Underground.
I think my favorite part of all the conservative hatred has been watching a bunch of self-professed, holier-than-thou Christians take it upon themselves to decide where Ted Kennedy will spend the rest of eternity. Conservatives seem to embrace the judging part of faith a lot easier than the compassion and forgiveness and charity parts. And here I thought this whole time that my duty was to love my neighbor and leave the judging to God.
Guess I missed something in the margins.
Amen, RS. I am a Democrat, but I still have respect for those in either party who spend their lives in public service whether it was Ronald Reagan, Richard Nixon or Ted Kennedy.
Also, this is about being a good human being and paying respect when someone dies whether you agreed with his/her opinions or not. The radical conservatives should not be judging others; perhaps instead they should be praying for themselves. They only wish they were as classy and respectful of his opposition as Ted Kennedy was.
A fine tribute to the Senator. And your response to Anon #3--Priceless. Too often in the political dialogue these days, persons who claim to be good Christians act like anything but that. It reminds me of a line from the classic 1960's song "Eve of Destruction" that goes:
"Hate your next door neighbor, but don't forget to say grace."
RS - I don't see anyone here delighting in his passing. There is no joy in any of this.
The implication that he should be hoisted upon high is ridiculous. He was a Democrat Senator from Mass born into an elite family. He overcame nothing, created nothing, and lost a presidential primary, and kept getting re-elected. But because of his ideology, we are supposed to bow at some liberal alter?
TK getting re-elected in Mass. would be like Bart Starr getting elected mayor of Green Bay.
The Kennedy story is certainly a tragic one. Nobody is celebrating Ted's death or his brothers'. But he did cause the death of a young lady. Only a person of a protected class could have gotten away with what he did.
While mourning his passing, let's not lose perspective on what his impact on society, and other people's lives truly was.
Agreed. One can avoid hoisting a person on high without being a dick. Unfortunately, that's something too often lost on nutjobs from both sides. I would gladly take the Free Republic users, chain them to the Democratic Underground users, and throw them all in the ocean. Our discourse and our nation would be more civil without them.
"But because of his ideology, we are supposed to bow at some liberal alter?"
Have you considered the possibility that Ted Kennedy's reputation is based not on his ideology, but his effectiveness as a statesman? Can you identify a single federal legislator of the last forty years who has accomplished so much with the support of both sides of the aisle?
I think RS likes Kennedy because he epitomized the dying breed of politicians who don't let their principles turn them into ideologues.
I was almost okay with all of this lauding and genuflecting until Sen. Feingold issued a press release stating he was the "greatest Senator in US History".
I doubt that.
Quick, without looking it up, name one major or significant piece of legislation Sen. Kennedy authored and advanced through the legislative process and had signed into law by the President...in the last 25 years.
Yea...I couldn't do it either.
Um, No Child Left Behind, non-discrimination laws for the disabled, COBRA, HIPAA, S-CHIP. He was either an author, a sponsor, or a major force behind all of those.
Greatest senator might be hyperbolic. I think it's safe to say that he was one of the greatest senators in modern time, in term of his profile and work output. Whether you like what he did for not, he at least did something, which is more than we can say for most of the geriatric tree stumps in that body.
A sponsor? A freaking sponsor?!? Don't humor me RS...a sponsor means a member of his staff called up another staff member and said, "Could you please add my boss to that...one.....bill...that helps people, or something."
Hey, you wanted an answer. We should also recognize that a lot of untalented vulnerable legislators have bills that are essentially ghost-written for them and moved through the body by senior legislators like Kennedy who actually know what the hell they're doing.
What we know as COBRA was pushed aggressively by Kennedy, even though the bill that contained the provision was authored by Dan Rostenkowski, by virtue of his position as Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. By your logic, does that mean Rostenkowski gets credit for everything in it?
Kennedy's office wrote the vast majority of the S-CHIP bill, only to bring Orrin Hatch on board to get it through the Senate. So does Hatch get all the credit because his name was first?
Suggesting that you have to be an author for your work to count is pretty naive view of the political process.
Whether he authored it, co-sponsored it, voted for it, had his staff write, or thought is kind of a neat idea over a few bourbons and water, your examples are massive government programs to purportedly quell a myriad of societal ills through a huge redistribution of wealth.
The "greatest Senator in US history or of our time" it does not make you. It only makes you a 40 year policy wonking dinosaur. I call him "Policiwonkasaurus." And for the record, I have forgotten more about the political process than most people will ever know.
"I have forgotten more about the political process than most people will ever know."
This can't be true if you are trying to argue that Kennedy didn't accomplish anything. You just don't agree with the things he accomplished.
Ask the Republican Senators he served with if they think he was an effective senator and they would say he was even if they didn't agree with him.
Now I'm sure in his own mind, Mr. Pelican Pants knowledge is far greater than those who actually knew Kennedy. But I'm going to take the word of these two instead.
Kennedy was a strong partisan in his own right, but his adversaries sought him out as a quintessential Senate "workhorse" - another quality senators, historians and aides say is harder to find in today's Senate - who was willing to help get something done.
"He'd come over and say, 'You know, we've got to get some Republicans, and if you can get me a couple or three I can talk to, maybe we can get a bill,'" Dole said. "You don't see a lot of that now."
Kennedy worked with former GOP Sen. Alan Simpson of Wyoming on immigration legislation in the 1980s that Kennedy ultimately decided to vote against - but that Simpson believes would never have become law without Kennedy's initial collaboration.
"As a legislator, you want to find a legislator to work with, not some guy who is just going to give speeches and screw you up. Kennedy was a master legislator," Simpson says of his former colleague in a forthcoming biography of Simpson by Don Hardy, his former chief of staff.
Blah-dee blah-dee...blah-deee...bloo...yip, yap, yammer....greatest Senator of all time....jib jab jabber-jaw junk.
Noble Republican lie #1- Ted Kennedy accomplished nothing as a lawmaker, noble Republican lie #2-everything he accomplished was just government spending, noble Republican lie #3-He was a powerful rich guy that got away with a crime, noble Republican lie #4-He was a liberal Democrat, who would have saved Obama's health care plan by taking all the insurance company reform ideas and getting rid of all Democrats ideas. Because Kennedy was sick with a brain tumor, you can't blame the Republicans for wanting to kill healthcare reform.
Such brave "anonymous" commentors.
"Such brave "anonymous" commentors."
Thanks for making it clear you're a troll!
Yes, they should all identify themselves.
Oh, bravo, well played; who writes your material...Steinfeld??
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