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On Lives and Legacies

Ted Kennedy  http://mariopiperni.com/

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As fair and balanced a look at Ted Kennedy as I’ve yet seen.

Andrew Sullivan

He was a senator able to be fiercely ideological and also fiercely pragmatic, able to develop friendships beyond politics – friendships that are the grease that makes the Senate work. He was a master of parliamentary procedures and the helm of a ship of highly skilled staffers.

He was also, of course, a politician. Despite being a proponent of green energy, he single-handedly prevented the construction of a wind farm off Cape Cod because it might obstruct his sea view. In 2004 he fought hard to remove Romney’s right to appoint a temporary senator if John Kerry were to win the presidency. And yet in the week before his death he urged a return to the appointment of a temporary senator – in order to keep a Democratic vote for healthcare reform intact. He could be partisan and hypocritical, as well as bipartisan and principled.

[...]

As The New York Times elegantly put it, Kennedy “was a celebrity, sometimes a self-parody, a hearty friend, an implacable foe, a man of large faith and large flaws, a melancholy character who persevered, drank deeply and sang loudly. He was a Kennedy”.

He was in the end more than a Kennedy. He was a senator. He worked the hard way, in often unglamorous circumstances, mostly in the minority, but he worked.

Some in dynasties rise high and fall far. Others provide the drop-shadow of their siblings’ drama: the prosaic work of legislating that endures even after the dream has died.

This is a mixed legacy, if a thoroughly human one.

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Comments

  1. janine says:

    This is a wonderfully moving article by Sullivan.

  2. RDS says:

    Most importantly, Ted Kennedy did not walk around with his back pocket open, looking for implicit bribes as most politicians do. He was born into privilege, but worked for his constituents and held up the dream of a better America for everyone. From my perspective, that’s a lofty standard for any politician and we could not have asked for more.

    Name one politician alive today that can rival Ted Kennedy, the statesman. There isn’t one. We have a bunch of yahoo’s in government today. Virtually all of them are greedy pigs at the taxpayer’s trough, bought and paid for by faceless corporations.

  3. Jovial says:

    RDS,

    Ditto for me.

    I am disappointed that lobbyist are still out there with the beat of their drum trying to stash money in politicians pockets and influence laws. I hope Obama can change their influence before the end of his term. Obama did say that Washington was not going to operate the same. I am still waiting for that promise

  4. RDS says:

    Jovial,

    We are probably already beyond the point of no return; it is impossible for any politician to be elected without the backing of big money interests. And that includes President Obama, and that’s why he cut a back door deal with PhRMA because he needs to look ahead for re-election.

    I want to have faith that people like Obama will try to swing the pendulum back, but it’s hard to see right now. All of this is going on against the backdrop of Democrats having complete power over all the levers of government, yet they seem so impotent and incapable of doing anything. Frankly, they’re pathetic. They’re either totally impotent or totally bribed.

  5. walter says:

    No-bama can’t change any thing an don’t try when he has a problem he just appoints another czar so if any thing goes wrong he can blame them he has never realized that he won the pres.all he does is fly around the country an still campaign.senate&congress just let him stay in the white house an when he does come out he read what they have written for him to say then jumps on the plane an goes some where else where they will let him talk about NOTHING except how to run this country deeper in debt.by the end of the year we will have to buy him another plane that one will be JUNK.

  6. RDS says:

    walter, go back to your room and do your homework – so that you will one day be able to read, write and speak coherently.

  7. Karen says:

    Ted Kennedy came from a world that very few of us can even imagine. He could have lived a life of ease and never given his fellowman a passing thought. Early on I had my doubts about him at times, but on balance he earned my respect for the way he dealt with the unbearable losses he suffered in his life, the way he watched over his brothers’ children after they died, and for the way he worked for and cared about the less fortunate. He caring was genuine, and I am grateful for his contributions to this country.