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Sen. Ted Kennedy Dead

Ah, anonymous haters posting their bile.* Allowing no interlude of respect. Revealing themselves to be laughably below contempt. How very, very unsurprising.

RIP, Senator.



*Not to include you, Brown.
 
I met Sen Kenndy once, on the Floor of the House during a Joint Session. While I disagreed with much of what he politically stood for he was very gracious when he introducted himself to me (the just out of College Staffer) and a effective Senator.
 
Regnad Kcin said:
Ah, anonymous haters posting their bile.* Allowing no interlude of respect. Revealing themselves to be laughably below contempt. How very, very unsurprising.

RIP, Senator.



*Not to include you, Brown.
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There is always somebody who admonishes anyone that doesn't speak reverentially when a famous public person dies. It would be hypocrisy for someone who didn't countenance what Kennedy did when he was alive to speak in rhapsodic tones about him in death. Does the passing of 24 hours, 48 hours, a week or a month make any difference in when unflattering comments are made about the deceased? You would condemn those for making the same comments if they appeared decades later.
 
Our Friend Ted (not) answering a simple question from Roger Mudd in 1979.
Understandably, this one question made him look like a babbling idiot and totally sank his presidential bid.





Epic Fail

But he was a great swimmer when he needed to be.:D

Edit: I mistakenly thought this was 1980, it was '79.
 
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Cicero said:
There is always somebody who admonishes anyone that doesn't speak reverentially when a famous public person dies. It would be hypocrisy for someone who didn't countenance what Kennedy did when he was alive to speak in rhapsodic tones about him in death. Does the passing of 24 hours, 48 hours, a week or a month make any difference in when unflattering comments are made about the deceased? You would condemn those for making the same comments if they appeared decades later.
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I don't mind that people speak of a person's life when they die, for better or for worse. It is true that some people will admonish you for doing so, as I was criticized for saying negative things about Jerry Falwell and even Tammy Faye Baker. But such criticisms are to be expected. There is a sort of moratorium, at least in the media, about speaking ill of the recently deceased.

My main problem with critics of Ted Kennedy is that they tend to focus on one event of his life, rather than the big picture. I give Brainster a lot of credit here, because even though he is unabashedly conservative, he praised Kennedy for being a consensus builder who was able to work across the aisle. And that is demonstrably true, as you will no doubt hear Republicans saying in the next few days.

In my mind, the body of work that Kennedy did in more than forty years of service far overwhelms the horrible and illegal things he did that night at Chappaquiddick. He paid for that as few people who committed manslaughter have done. No, he didn't go to jail, but even in death, you still hear certain people sneering at him for that. I do not doubt that his crime will be in many history books. His legacy and his family will be punished even after his death.

And really, Republicans have him to thank for a lot of their successes in the Reagan and Gingrinch years. He was always such a lightning rod for criticism that they could smear him and be guaranteed approval by the right for doing so. This is probably not one of his more treasured legacies, but it is certainly an important one. He was the bogeyman for the right that Bush is for the left these days.

But unlike Bush, he served much of his life in politics and never quit even when reviled, outnumbered, out of favor or tested by people who hated him and all of his family. People who, still, to this day, are so full of hatred that they continue to use insulting little names to call them.

Was he a great man? Arguably. Was he a tough man under political fire? Unquestionably.
 
Tricky said:
My main problem with critics of Ted Kennedy is that they tend to focus on one event of his life, rather than the big picture. I give Brainster a lot of credit here, because even though he is unabashedly conservative, he praised Kennedy for being a consensus builder who was able to work across the aisle. And that is demonstrably true, as you will no doubt hear Republicans saying in the next few days.
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I just want to add +1 to this bit.
 
JoeyDonuts said:
I'd venture that Bobby was a notable exception. I'm not aware of anything shady RFK ever pulled.
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There's a book that makes the case that Jackie O. and RFK had a long affair after she was widowed during which they shamelessly carried on under his wife's nose.

Several of his friends and acquaintances attested to this, including allegedly Truman Capote.

Though this is something that should probably be taken with a small grain of salt.
 
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Tricky said:
I don't mind that people speak of a person's life when they die, for better or for worse. It is true that some people will admonish you for doing so, as I was criticized for saying negative things about Jerry Falwell and even Tammy Faye Baker. But such criticisms are to be expected. There is a sort of moratorium, at least in the media, about speaking ill of the recently deceased.
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While consuming vox populi and pundrity today, I heard a lot of people preface themselves by saying, "I don't wish to speak ill of the dead" and then go off on a myopic, vitriolic diatribe.

- edit and I just noticed the myopic tags used for this thead... shocking.
 
MaGZ said:
Bringing in all the non-white immigrants will lead to the eventual race war in America. When it happens you can thank Senator Kennedy.
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When I get to the bottom
I go back to the top of the slide
Where I stop and turn
and I go for a ride
Till I get to the bottom and I see you again
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Do you don't you want me to love you
I'm coming down fast but I'm miles above you
Tell me tell me come on tell me the answer
and you may be a lover but you ain't no dancer

Go helter skelter

BTW: Who let Charles Manson get a forum account here?
 
JoeyDonuts said:
He's an interesting study.

Does altruism later in life make up for the fact that he ****ing drove a woman off a bridge to her death?

Hell if I know.
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I don't consider trying to obscure (or compensate for) the fact he murdered someone with financially rewarding civil service later in his opulent luxurious life to be altruism.

That being said, Senator Kennedy's body will have 6 pall bearers. His head will have 8.
 
FreshHat said:
Yes, indeed!

Kind of like calling O.J. Simpson a bloody great football player.
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He may have been a bloody great football player but he was definitely not a good husband. He should find himself a nice girl and give it another stab. :talk038:
 
Until now, I never really cared about Teddy one way or the other.
But seeing as to how he can still get MaGZ, Cicero, and Flaming Moe all upset, I gotta think there must've been something pretty good about him, after all.

RIP Teddy. End of an era.
 
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