Gillespie on Kennedy (and on Others on Kennedy)

Today is Ted Kennedy deification day. So start deifying!

Remove the letter "i" from that second "d" word, and I'm with you. You can leave it in the first "d" word.

RIP Kopechne http://politicalzombie.blogspot.com/2009/08/rip...

Let's not forget Teddy's clarification of Chappaquiddick events to CBS correspondent, Roger Mudd, in 1980. I quote,

"On that, there's---the problem is---from that night---I---I found the conduct, the behavior, almost sort of beyond belief myself, I mean, that's why its's been---but I---think that's, that's---that's the way it was. That---that happened to be the way it was."

Clears it all up for me. How about the rest of you?

The remorse is really touching. We really ought to sympathize with Kennedy: he really wanted to feel terrible about it, but his political ambitions kept those feelings bottled up.

Let's not forget Teddy's clarification of Chappaquiddick events to CBS correspondent, Roger Mudd, in 1980.

And I'll bet it illustrates another instance of liberal media bias. I'm sure Roger let it pass; while the proper response should have been a double-take, and then, "... WHAT?"

hmmmm.....seems the brain damage preceded the brain cancer.

Did Ted die trying to cross the border into Canada in a last ditch attempt to get himself some of that abundant and superior Canadian medical care?

I'm more afraid of him in death than I am when he was still alive.
I had mentioned to a friend that I had hoped he would live a nice long life for many years to come, if nothing more than to stop the liberals from reframing the Health Care Debate into a Memorial for the Liberal Lion. It seems from one of the headlines on WSJ, that that is exactly how Pelosi, Reid and Obama will frame the debate now.

I think he did some good things and some crappy ones. Samgrove's point is particularly important to note. Ted never once had to deal with the Forgotten Man's reality. I'm speaking of William Graham Sumner's Forgotten Man.

I also think that if Obamacare is passed as a memorial for Kennedy, then Kennedy's enduring legacy will be of America finally jumping the shark and going down the Road to Serfdom. I'm sure that's not what Kennedy intended but we all know the law of unintended consequences.

I don't share your concern, because I think any Congressman who would vote for it because of the Dead Lion, would have voted for it anyway.

Now that would be ironic. With all the legislation he greased through to push the government into health care, he (or his family name) may have a fair amount of responsibility for the Rube Goldberg medical and health insurance mess we have. To take it further in his honor might convince me of the need for a strict estate tax to prevent the passing down of vast family fortunes. He may have made different contributions if he had to earn his keep.

For Mary Jo Kopechne, who Teddy left submerged in the car he drove off a bridge on July 18, 1969, I celebrate this day; Mary Jo, rest in peace now.

Teddy, then 37 years old, copped a plea of leaving the scene of an accident and got a 2 month suspended sentence and a year on probation.
"Teddy" rather than Ted, because he acted like a scared child of privilege, rather than like an adult. How drunk was he? We don't know; he left the scene and her body wasn't found by the police for 10 hours.


The two good laughs I got out of this were:

1) A colleague who had a, pre-Chernobyl, bumper sticker that read: "More people have died in Ted Kenedy's car than in nuclear power plants."

2) The cartoon rendering of Teddy when he was running for president with a monkey on his back wearing a T-shirt embroidered with the word: Chappaquiddick.

From a report I just read, he was unwilling to admit that his actions had been "immoral." I will have to respectfully disagree. Yes "respectfully"; it is not in good form to not have respect for the dead.

I won't miss his teflon double standard by which he lived his life. Good remarks on the unintended consequences of his legislation. Perhaps we'll see the pendulum begin swinging the other way without the halo his family name provided for him and his legislation.

You know as well as I, that liberals will not be ever able to see the Kennedys in unbiased light. Look how they venerate FDR, LBJ or anyone that passes a big Government entitlement. I'm sure if Bush would have passed some sort of entitlement, then even Liberals would have loved him.

I agree with your first part. I disagree with your second part. The best strategy to get liberals against big government is to get W to support it.

They want big government when their people are running the show. They forget that might not be permanent.

Bush passed Medicare Part D, SCHIP, No Child Left Behind etc. Bush is from the liberal wing of the republican party - the Rockefeller wing - not the conservative Goldwater wing.

Liberals hate Medicare Part D because it isn't totally Government run, it's partially private and runs under budget...two things Liberals hate.

SCHIP; Bush signed it so to Liberals he gets no credit.

NCLB; Read a liberal blog on NCLB, they hate it because it takes away from the Teacher's union. Now if the law would have expanded the Union, now we'd have a different narrative. Interesting to note, that a liberal blog I read (liberalrapture.com) one of the comments on there was from a liberal that will never forgive Kennedy for two things, No Child and Obama endorsement (they are pro-Clinton PUMAS)

Maybe I should have said "If Bush would have passed a BIG government entitlement."

"and runs under budget"

Under budget, but still added to the deficit - that was the source of some concern. I think a lot of the liberal opposition to Part D was pure politics. It has nothing to with the fact that "government didn't get enough control". If Obama passed the exact same act, liberals would have supported it and conservatives opposed it. I think it's more party power plays than anything else.

I wouldn't be so sure about NCLB. There's a lot of support for it in all quarters, even if liberals have specific problems with it.

I actually agree with you for once. The Medicare part is pure politics, if Obama would have done the exact same thing, they would all be in ecstasy over it.

As for NCLB, I encourage you to talk to more Liberals about it. I was called a racist once, when talking about NCLB,...liberal tolerance! Sigh...and to think not too long ago I though of my self as a good liberal...now I know I am one...it's just that the Democrats aren't liberal at all, just quasi-socialists and stateists.

RE: "I encourage you to talk to more Liberals about it. I was called a racist once, when talking about NCLB,...liberal tolerance! "

Oh that doesn't surprise me. I'm not saying liberals love it by any means. And no party has a monopoly on dumbass comments. But even Obama is embracing the concept behind it. And Kennedy backed it too. I'm just saying it isn't something there is universal liberal opposition to, that's all.

Daniel Kuehn is a born again progressive.

Surely, you misunderstand him. We all do.

Do you think if I put a bunch of smiley faces in this post he won't take it seriously enough to launch into a multi-paragraph defense?

=) =) =) =) =) =) =) =) =) =) =) =)

:) awww, you guys - you didn't find that exchange with sandre to be a whimsical afternoon diversion?

I'm a born again Libertarian so I feel for him a little bit.

We also shouldn't forget the Kennedy-Nixon partnership that gave us the HMO Act circa 1972.

What's particularly interesting is the correlation between that passage and the % of GDP that is spent on health care annually. Before the passage, the line was sloping upward only slightly....after the passage, there's a distinct kink in the line, and a much, much steeper slope that takes us up to the roughly 16% where it stands today.

Of course, that "innovative legislation" was supposed to cut/control the cost of health care while expanding the access. Not much has changed in 35+ years.

Ted Kennedy to me was the ultimate, and typical, liberal; extremely well-intentioned but ignorant of human nature and thus the unintended consequences of his ideas. I share many of the same goals, but I think that history has shown that his way (big government) isn't going to get the job done.

"'I think they're gonna say he is one of the greatest legislators, or most effective legislators—if not the most effective legislator—the Senate has ever seen,' Boston Globe reporter and author Susan Milligan said."

Maybe he was a great legislator, but how effective was his legislation? Did it achieve the desired results?

And of course it's open to interpretation what the true desired results were.

It seems to me "ignorant of human nature" treats Kennedy more generously than he deserves. Every human being with anything approaching his length of experience knows human nature. He simply chose to impose his set of beliefs on reality, and to ignore the mountains of evidence to the contrary. In doing so, because of the great power he enjoyed, he has done more damage to the political, economic and cultural fabric of this country arguably than anyone besides FDR and LBJ. He was a crook with a plausible-sounding excuse, that being the cause of the less-advantaged. The result: he robbed Americans at every level of advantaged-ness. And while I admit I cannot truly know his motivations, I suspect self-aggrandizement was much higher up the scale than compassion.

... extremely well-intentioned but ignorant

You're willing to give him more benefit of the doubt than I am.

I think Kennedy knew full well what he was doing. Empowering the State and enriching himself. His little drive off the bridge shows me all I ever needed to know about his compassion for people.

What's funny about this comment is that it points out that MOST politicians actually feel the same way; it's just that liberal Dems can get the federal government to move huge mountains (while dropping them on many) while non-liberal democrats try to move the mountain piece by piece which is never accompanied by a huge signing ceremony.

How can I mourn the death of a man who has lived a life of privilege for 77 years and looked down upon me and many others as people needful of shepherding by the extortion authority?

I can't

It should be a great shame to be remembered as a politician.

If that is not a Mencken quote, it could be.

Damn right, but just like the Micheal Jackson fiasco of MSM coverage, they will only mention Mary Jo for 2 min of a 2 hour coverage of him.