Ted Kennedy Passed Away

[Anonymous]

11:27 - perspective! Thank you! We could all be heartless, or choose not to be, it is your choice. Thankfully most of the Kennedys, in their professional lives, chose NOT to be. I would bet you benefit from it yourselves, without even realizing it (obviously). You don't have to subscribe to his personal life to benefit from what he has done for you.

And to those who have lost loved ones to cancer, I am sorry, because so have I, and it sucks. It is no fun to sit by their side week after week, and feel their pain and your loss.

But we are not comparing this post to your relatives. We are simply saying we lost a great leader.

Usually when someone talks about losing someone with such callousness - "and we lose someone every day" - it means they have a chip on their shoulder, are racist (yes, it works both ways) - or both.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I knew him. My husband worked for him. So did my boss. The Senator worked his staff very hard, but he worked much harder than any of them. He didn't need his salary but he earned it five times over. And he would have done the job for free.

The staff and alumni phone tree has been like a reunion, albeit a tearful one. I learned by email first-- and my husband knew immediately what had happened when I said "oh no," and touched his arm before handing my Blackberry over.

Senator Kennedy knew the names of the Capitol elevator operators' spouses and children and would ask about them. Sometimes he'd make his staff crazy by getting off schedule to spend time with a witness who had traveled to DC to tell their story of discrimination, or hate violence, or loss of health care. He gave these people spontaneous tours of the Capitol.

Everyone who works for him gets one of his beautiful watercolor paintings as a gift when they leave. My husband's is over our fireplace. I'm so glad that we have it to look at right now.

The Senator has sent me personal thank you letters just for doing my job, advocating before his committees. He has thanked me and my staff for helping him help us fight for civil rights. Other members of Congress will occasionally call your boss with kudos, but he sends these letters. He remembers your name and what you have done.

Senator Kennedy regularly received requests for help from people all over the country, many of whom didn't know the names of their own senators but knew that even if they don't live in Massachusetts, he is really their senator, and their champion. He and his staff always responded and often made significant efforts.

Every 18 year old who voted, every proud new citizen who benefitted from the 1965 immigration act that wiped away racist quotas, every woman who wants a fair wage, every dish washer whose meager wages are now a bit more, everyone whose civil rights were protected because Robert Bork is not on the Supreme Court, and many others owe him a debt of gratitude.

My husband has lost a father figure who came into his life not long after my husband's own father died of the identical form of cancer. It makes me think about how fragile our lives are, and how precious. I'm very sorry for his wife, who did great things for his health and his happiness. She has suffered an unimaginable loss and is doing so with grace.

In the civil rights community, we are all wondering who will lead, who will speak, who will rally us, and who will ever again understand our humanity and share our vision of what this country can and should be.

It doesn't bother me that so many people are saying vile things about him because the people who truly know him love him deeply, and he gave every one of us the strength to know that our regard, and the deep rewards of his work, were enough to sustain him. It is enough to know that all around the world right now, there are people typing tributes of love and respect, with tears in their eyes.

So beautiful. I'm crying. I'm one of his supporters and wish that he were still on this earth, it's not going to be same without him.

[Anonymous]

Are you also crying for Mary Jo who slowly died in the car because Ted decided she wasn't worth saving? Are you crying because he was drunk and cared so little for a woman that he had no regard for that he didn't help her and yes she had a good shot of living because she had an air bubble for about an hour and her autopsy showed that she suffocated slowly. Are you crying for the wife that he treated so shabbily that she became lost in alchohol and can barely function. Is that something to cry about? Are you crying about William Kennedy Smith who was woken from sleeping by Uncle Ted to go drinking and then wound up in a load of trouble?

Sorry but I am sick of the "Kennedy" lovers that go on and on about how wonderful these people are when most of them are just a bunch creeps. Death is always sad but the fact that Kennedy is being elevated to sainthood when he killed someone and then asked her parents to be quiet about it for many years just makes me sick.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are you also crying for Mary Jo who slowly died in the car because Ted decided she wasn't worth saving? Are you crying because he was drunk and cared so little for a woman that he had no regard for that he didn't help her and yes she had a good shot of living because she had an air bubble for about an hour and her autopsy showed that she suffocated slowly. Are you crying for the wife that he treated so shabbily that she became lost in alchohol and can barely function. Is that something to cry about? Are you crying about William Kennedy Smith who was woken from sleeping by Uncle Ted to go drinking and then wound up in a load of trouble?

Sorry but I am sick of the "Kennedy" lovers that go on and on about how wonderful these people are when most of them are just a bunch creeps. Death is always sad but the fact that Kennedy is being elevated to sainthood when he killed someone and then asked her parents to be quiet about it for many years just makes me sick.

This doesn't hold up for me. I'm sorry for Mary Jo and her family but those other folks are responsible for their own actions. Someone doesn't make you an alcoholic because they treated you "shabbily." Please.

[Anonymous]

The world is full of creeps, womanizers, alcoholics, trust-fund babies, etc etc. Few of them choose a path that redeems them in any way.

I don't know about sainthood, but Ted Kennedy was handed one set of circumstances (wealth, addiction issues) and he created something else for himself. We have probably all benefited from his service.

I expect that when George W. Bush goes to his final resting place, the haters will find themselvs on the other end of this argument...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The world is full of creeps, womanizers, alcoholics, trust-fund babies, etc etc. Few of them choose a path that redeems them in any way.

I don't know about sainthood, but Ted Kennedy was handed one set of circumstances (wealth, addiction issues) and he created something else for himself. We have probably all benefited from his service.

I expect that when George W. Bush goes to his final resting place, the haters will find themselvs on the other end of this argument...

Hello...as much as you can't stand to admit it...George W Bush didn't get thrown out of college for cheating, leave the scene of an accident that he was in with a young woman who was not his wife while he already had a wife and kids, humiliate his wife over and over again, and continue to make bad decisions. Yes, George W Bush may have had drinking problem at one point in his life but he certainly turned his life around and chose his family over the bottle. Teddy didn't grow up until he was an old man. So don't even GO THERE with the GWB garbarge. It makes you look silly.

And the Bush family has class...I can't say the same for the Kennedys. Yes they had great tragedy but many also chose their own sordid past in many cases.

It is sad that Ted Kennedy died in this way and he did pass some great legilsation but he also hurt his wife, his kids and other people along the way.

So mourn if you want, but remember that he hurt a lot of people and is not a saint. And please refrain from Bush bashing.

[Anonymous]

Amen PP--Kennedy was a creep.

[Anonymous]

"Please refrain from the Bush bashing"???

Oh, sweetie, you must be new here.

And to include the whole Bush family in your amnesty fiat? Laura Bush killed a man. Shall we start there? Or with the fact that Bush was actually convicted of DUI? I'm not even going to get going on the 30,000 soldiers killed and injured in Iraq alone in pursuit of GWB's vengeance for his dad's debacle-- after all, he was president when he sent those kids overseas, and he's the decider, and if the president does it, it's not illegal. (Sorry, that's a Nixon line, but I'm sure Bush would agree.) Want to draw other comparisons to children of privilege who ruined lives and got away scot free? I guaran-damn-tee you more than half of them are on the republican side of the aisle.

YOU are the one here bashing a dead man, while others are trying to share memories of his good works. And you have the unmitigated gall to tell ME not to bash BUSH??? Unbelievable.

[Anonymous]

PP is arguing for the sake of arguing. Him being elevated to a saint is her snide interpretation of the situation. Any normal person knows you can acknowledge and appreciate the accomplishments someone has made and be sad at the result of bad choices they've made. And the results of those bad choices. The two things are not mutually exclusive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP is arguing for the sake of arguing. Him being elevated to a saint is her snide interpretation of the situation. Any normal person knows you can acknowledge and appreciate the accomplishments someone has made and be sad at the result of bad choices they've made. And the results of those bad choices. The two things are not mutually exclusive.

Exactly. Grown ups can deal with ambiguity without throwing a hissy fit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are you also crying for Mary Jo who slowly died in the car because Ted decided she wasn't worth saving? Are you crying because he was drunk and cared so little for a woman that he had no regard for that he didn't help her and yes she had a good shot of living because she had an air bubble for about an hour and her autopsy showed that she suffocated slowly. Are you crying for the wife that he treated so shabbily that she became lost in alchohol and can barely function. Is that something to cry about? Are you crying about William Kennedy Smith who was woken from sleeping by Uncle Ted to go drinking and then wound up in a load of trouble?

Sorry but I am sick of the "Kennedy" lovers that go on and on about how wonderful these people are when most of them are just a bunch creeps. Death is always sad but the fact that Kennedy is being elevated to sainthood when he killed someone and then asked her parents to be quiet about it for many years just makes me sick.

Are you F-ing kidding me???? It is not being a "kennedy lover" to recognize the man or his accomplishments. Sainthood??? No one is saying that. And, for the love of sweet christ, if the best you can do to disparage this man is bring up a very tragic ACCIDENT that happened 40 years ago, then it is YOU who look silly. Lucky for you, you are so insignificant that your trials and mistakes are not paraded around for the nation to see and judge.

Yes, the man was born into wealth and privilege. And, made some bad decisions (especially in his youth). But, he was an advocate for many and used that privilege to do some good things.

And, as far as the comparison to Bush, there is none. Bush had/has the same wealth and privilege and even more failings.

[Anonymous]

Ted Kennedy was not in his youth when the accident happened...he was a grown man with a wife and children and one on the way. Doubt you would be so forgiving if it was your hubby.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ted Kennedy was not in his youth when the accident happened...he was a grown man with a wife and children and one on the way. Doubt you would be so forgiving if it was your hubby.

She said it happened 40 years ago. Not that he was young when it did happen. Your blind hatred is now stopping you from being able to read correctly. I'm curious how it feels to have so much hatred for someone you've never even met.

[Anonymous]

No she...said that he made "some bad decisions (especially in his youth)" I can read. I think your love for someone you have never met is making it hard for you to read.

I don't have hatred for him...just don't get this revisionist history when people like him and Michael Jackson die.

[Anonymous]

Think it is really lame to get into Bush bashing. It seems like everytime there is criticism of someone from the left they go right into Bush bashing instead of dealing with subject at hand. Ted Kennedy was a jerk and I don't care what bills he worked on, it doesn't pass muster that he let someone slowly die and then tried to pass it off as a a regretful mistake. He served no jail time and was able to continue on as a Sentator and continue leading a lame life cheating on his wife and then abandoning her when she had alcohol problems and the list goes on and on. By the way Laura Bush got into a sad accident that could happen to any one of us--She wasn't drunk and didn't leave someone to die alone gasping for air. I really think it's amazing that the same people who say what a great guy he was just kind of go oh well Mary Jo died 40 years ago..so sad but time passes. I am sure her parents never felt that way. Good riddence