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thatcrazycajunThe cause of liberalism, the political party I have called home for over two decades now and the nation itself have lost an irreplaceable, invaluable paladin of the public weal. It is with an exceedingly heavy heart that I must report (for the perhaps one or two of you who may not have yet heard) the death of United States Senator and longtime Democratic Party mandarin Edward "Teddy" Kennedy...a mere two weeks after his elder sister Eunice Kennedy Shriver, dear to my heart for founding the Special Olympics, preceded him in death.
The senior Senator from Massachusetts and patriarch of the most legendary family in American politics since the Adamses passed away at his Hyannisport home at 77 after a lengthy struggle with brain cancer that sidelined him during much of the recent battle over what may have been his final signature issue: health care reform. He was survived by his widow Victoria, another sister and three children. The Reuters obituary can be found here.
I realize a great many people will probably dance a jig at this news...and not all of them conservatives or Republicans who found themselves opposing him, resenting his family's outsized influence on American politics and policy for a half century and/or loathing his ideology. Many who share his ideals and views on the issues have nonetheless never forgiven him for his alleged complicity in the death of a young staffer for his late brother Robert's 1968 presidential campaign, Mary Jo Kopechne, in the now-infamous Chappaquiddick incident. And certainly, she should be remembered and her family's continuing grief and irremediable loss respected.
But if we were all to be judged solely by the single worst moment of our conduct, none of us would have any hope of redemption...and Uncle Ted's countless triumphs on behalf of civil rights for minorities, equality for women, organized labor, peace in the world and many other causes would be unjustly ignored. Indeed, the destruction of his own Presidential aspirations by that scandal may have redounded ultimately to the good of Senator Kennedy, his party and his country; for while Presidents are limited by the Constitution's 22nd Amendment to a maximum of eight years in office, Senators can and do serve for decades...and the people of the Bay State, who presumably knew his faults and failings best of all, still sent him back to Washington on their behalf time and time again.
I choose to remember the man named by a group of Boston Globe reporters (who probably covered him more often, more intensely and at closer range than anyone), in their recent biography of him, the Last Lion. And I shall mourn his passing as the final hurrah of the generation of his family he took leadership of following more personal tragedy and suffering than any family, in or out of politics, should ever have to endure. If there was a price to be meted out for his trespasses, I think it safe to say he has paid it and then some. We can but hope his children and those of his slain brothers, who continue the proud Kennedy tradition of public service, will carry his banner to the goal he so narrowly missed.
The senior Senator from Massachusetts and patriarch of the most legendary family in American politics since the Adamses passed away at his Hyannisport home at 77 after a lengthy struggle with brain cancer that sidelined him during much of the recent battle over what may have been his final signature issue: health care reform. He was survived by his widow Victoria, another sister and three children. The Reuters obituary can be found here.
I realize a great many people will probably dance a jig at this news...and not all of them conservatives or Republicans who found themselves opposing him, resenting his family's outsized influence on American politics and policy for a half century and/or loathing his ideology. Many who share his ideals and views on the issues have nonetheless never forgiven him for his alleged complicity in the death of a young staffer for his late brother Robert's 1968 presidential campaign, Mary Jo Kopechne, in the now-infamous Chappaquiddick incident. And certainly, she should be remembered and her family's continuing grief and irremediable loss respected.
But if we were all to be judged solely by the single worst moment of our conduct, none of us would have any hope of redemption...and Uncle Ted's countless triumphs on behalf of civil rights for minorities, equality for women, organized labor, peace in the world and many other causes would be unjustly ignored. Indeed, the destruction of his own Presidential aspirations by that scandal may have redounded ultimately to the good of Senator Kennedy, his party and his country; for while Presidents are limited by the Constitution's 22nd Amendment to a maximum of eight years in office, Senators can and do serve for decades...and the people of the Bay State, who presumably knew his faults and failings best of all, still sent him back to Washington on their behalf time and time again.
I choose to remember the man named by a group of Boston Globe reporters (who probably covered him more often, more intensely and at closer range than anyone), in their recent biography of him, the Last Lion. And I shall mourn his passing as the final hurrah of the generation of his family he took leadership of following more personal tragedy and suffering than any family, in or out of politics, should ever have to endure. If there was a price to be meted out for his trespasses, I think it safe to say he has paid it and then some. We can but hope his children and those of his slain brothers, who continue the proud Kennedy tradition of public service, will carry his banner to the goal he so narrowly missed.
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Date: 2009-08-27 01:46 am (UTC)May I add that perhaps the best memorial our nation could give Mr. Kennedy is to pass a comprehensive health care reform bill that accomplishes what he set out to achieve. I think he will be remembered as a champion of health care reform, and that is a fine thing to be remembered for.