The "Lion" has left. RIP Ted Kennedy

[paularoid]

No news as of yet other than what's busy playing on CNN right now (11:50 pm, Tuesday, August 25). Katie Couric came on during the normal broadcast of David Letterman with a special announcement and a short vignette.

----- minutes later -----

Now the links are starting to show up fast and furious. Pick your favorite news source and read about it if you need to.

http://www.43rdstateblues.com/images/Edward-Kennedy.jpg

[Peanut]

It's a very sad day here in New England. I just woke up to this news, and even though it was expected, it's still incredibly sad...especially after the recent death of his sister Eunice. Who will step up to lead the Kennedy family now? Time will tell. And, hopefully, in honor of Senator Kennedy, the US government will finally pass some type of health care package. It was his final dream.

Rachel

[Amy in Vermont]

I can't tell you how crushing this is, I grew up in Massachusetts during the Kennedy era. I clearly remember the president's assasination and my mother sitting in the kitchen weeping. teddy's passing is truly the end of an era.
As odd as it may seem, I awoke from a frightening dream just as he passed. I know some folks do not believe this kind of thing, but there have been many times in my life, both sleeping and awake, where I seem to have a connection to another dimension.

In my dream last night, I was on the phone with my veterinarian friend, and as we spoke, my words became garbled, my voiced failed and I started to suffocate. I became unable to speak and tried desperately to say "Call 911" but there was no intelligble noise coming out, then no noise at all. There was someone that came into my house, but I woke up before they got to me....

I laid awake for a long while puzzling about the source of the dream. It felt like it was about me at the time, but now I wonder if I was not channeling the passing of Ted Kennedy. One never nows about these things.

[hoops]

May he rest in peace
peace
hoops

[BGG]

I still ache from the news...

I can't say much more than that. It hurts. Yet I can't express it (other than at home in front of Rachel) because the 'show must go on'...

[Peanut]

Well, the official mourning has begun here in the Boston area. I was in tears watching the motorcade move through the city he loved. And I was shocked to see people (in a city known for its rude drivers!) actually stopping their cars on the highway and getting out to pay respects as the motorcade passed. Amazing. When I went to bed last night, there were over 12,000 people waiting in line at the Kennedy Library to pay their respects. Michelle and I both wish we could go today, but our work schedules just won't allow it. And we both know "Uncle Teddy" would want the work to continue. There is a very deep sense of mourning in this area, but it's beautiful to see how beloved he truly was.

[Judy]

We have just become a lesser country.

[Eva]

Actually I don't know all that much about him. But I understand from reactions that he was quite important to US-ers. My condoleances on losing him.

Eva

[DaveM]

Hate to be a heretic, but Eva--you haven't missed out on as much as you may think you have.

[Peanut]

What the heck is that supposed to mean? :mad:


Eva, Senator Kennedy served this country for 47 years, and every piece of legislation that has passed in my lifetime (and even before) that has helped guarantee people their rights (whether African American, women, immigrants, gays and lesbians, etc), expanded health care and education to the poorest Americans, given young people an opportunity to serve their communities, etc. has had his name on it. He was not a perfect human being, but he was one heck of a senator.

Oh, he also helped create peace in Northern Ireland and India/Pakistan (at one time anyway). He will be missed by most.

[BGG]

If I even said 1/10th of what I am thinking at the moment, I would be thrown off the board!!!

Born, raised, and spent most of my life in Massachusetts. But even if I didn't, I would still know that he fought SO long and SO hard for SO many...

Eva: Trust the true Americans... he was a great man.

[JoanM]

It's not just a Massachusetts thing...Was he perfect? no...Was his a voice we could count on? yes ...Will that voice be missed? I sure will, along with many others who never set foot in Massachusetts but were and continue to be touched by his work... Will his works live on?...yes
I really like this personal account
Ted Kennedy: remembering a dedicated senator

Posted by Letters editor (http://search.nwsource.com/search?searchtype=cq&sort=date&from=ST&source=ST&byline=Letters%20editor)
Kennedy, a graceful and model public servant
Much has been written over the past few days about the impact Sen. Ted Kennedy made as a legislator and the way he interacted with the people he represented. My anecdote, perhaps more removed than some, is extremely memorable and important to me.
As a Massachusetts native who spent much of my early career working in homeless shelters and anti-poverty agencies, I was aware of the work Kennedy was doing on behalf of people living in poverty.
In 1994, while working for Kennedy's re-election, I wrote The Boston Globe a passionate response to an article about how many young people were unaware of -- or downright cynical about -- Kennedy's work.
"The under-30 crowd, of which I am a part, seems to be paying more attention to Hollywood than Washington, and the ridicule directed at Kennedy is more available to these voters than credits on his record," my letter in The Globe said.
A few days after my letter was published I got something in the mail that remains one of my most cherished possessions: a handwritten note from Kennedy thanking me. For me, it was like God stopping by on his way to work to pat me on the back.
In his lifetime of service, Kennedy represented more than just the people of Massachusetts. He represented the ideals and hopes of millions of young people like me who needed someone to lead the way -- to validate the work we were doing and the idealistic dreams we refused to let die.
As much as Bobby and Jack Kennedy remain my larger-than-life heroes, Ted Kennedy -- like Martin Luther King Jr. -- will always be the boots-on-the-ground ideal of what a public servant is: tireless, effective, fiercely intelligent and always graceful.
-- Jesse Ward Putnam, Seattle

[DaveM]

I will not comment further, save to say that the Kennedys are a religion, and I was out of line to cast aspersions on anyone's religion.

[Amy in Vermont]

The funeral has just begun. I was pretty teary eyed anyhow this morning, and this has turned the faucets on full blast. I feel especially sorrow filled for Caroline and Ethel and Maria. The losses they have borne over the years are tremendous and I don't know where they find the strength to carry forward.

I am sure by the time Mr. Obama finishes his eulogy, I along with many others will be a sobbing wreck.

Farewell Teddy.

[Chet]

I stayed up to watch the funeral "live" on BBC - surprisingly, CNN didn't carry it altho it showed the early part before the coffin arrived - and I'm glad I did.

President Obama's eulogy made me consider the late Senator from a new angle. I'd earlier posted on Facebook about how, while his brothers live on "forever young", he grew old on their behalf. President Obama's eulogy made me realise that, in addition to living his own life, he also lived two other lives, those of John's and Robert's. He helped look after their children, and in particular, I was touched by the mention of how he walked Caroline down the aisle on her wedding day, something her father should've done.

Every four or eight years, you Americans have a new First Family. But trully, in my humble opinion, you have your very own "forever" First Family in the Kennedys.

[Peanut]

Michelle and I watched the entire (13 hours) of coverage yesterday. It was raining and cold out so what else were we going to do. :)

I was incredibly moved by the comments of his sons Teddy Jr and Patrick and by the image of the plane carrying his body disappearing into the clouds...leaving Massachusetts for the last time. There were 2 moments that really got to me though. When the motorcade stopped in front of the Senate with all the staffers standing on the steps in tribute, and I saw his wife, Vicky, wipe away a tear for the first time. And at the very end when his 2 grandsons, Teddy III and Max, were on their knees hugging the casket in inconsolable grief, and the newcasters here actually said that they felt like they shouldn't be watching, and they cut away to end the programming. To us he was the Lion of the Senate...to them he was gramps.

Very moving.

[BGG]

Peanut is right - we watched it all... and I am glad we did. He earned it and he deserved it. Had I been feeling well enough yesterday, we would have liked to drive down to MA... but my health had me down for the day on the couch.

As Rachel said, the 1700+ people standing on the steps to the senate was amazing to see... but I was also quite touched by the thousands and thousands of people who just STOPPED their cars for miles on Route 128 (one of the 3 busiest highways in MA) and stood - in the pouring rain - for hours... simply to say Goodby and thanks. Some waved, some salued, many clapped, most just stood with their hand on their heart and cried. I did all I could do, which was to stand in my livingroom, put my hand on my own heart, and cry along with them.

I also wept when - unbeknownst to even the family - the priest at the gravesite read a letter Ted had written to the Pope, and the letter the Pope wrote back to Ted. Very touching and humble.

So yes - he made mistakes in life... we all do. But he also spent his entire life trying to make up for them.. and trying to help those in need to have a voice.

And yes, starting to cry now. For so many people - around the USA and the world, this is a huge loss. Huge.

[Amy in Vermont]

I watched it all too. It was almost too much to take in. I was already pretty weepy before it started.

I thank his family for sharing what should have been a very private moment of their lives. What strength that must have taken!

The love and the legacy came through in spades.

OK.. I am tearing up again....

[Randy & Betty in Pa]

I guess I don't share the feelings of many about the "Kennedy clan". I will say that I hope he rests in peace and hope that is the end of a political dynasty which has time and again placed itself above the law and common citizen.... My sympathy to his loved ones.

R

[Wildflower Fever]

I'm torn between the detractors and supporters here. I don't discount Teddy at all when it comes to his record of service, I believe it was legitimate. I believe the mistakes of the Kennedy family can be attributed (right or wrong) to the pitfalls of growing up with privilege, and I believe Teddy paid the price over the years for his. I actually think his tragedies help to cement his resolve to give back to the people. That said, I sometimes have trouble with the cult of personality tied to the Kennedys, it can be overpowering at times. Still, I know how it feels, as a Paul Wellstone fan in Minnesota, that has been a dividing rod as well. There are those who fight to keep his legacy alive, and those who ridicule.

[trish55]

He and his family certainly had their share of controversies. It seems people either hate or love them. As a native of Massachusetts with very liberal leanings on most things I appreciated his political talents and what he did for the state and country, his personal life in respects was another matter but he is now at rest so no sense bringing all that up. His son Patrick is a congressman from R.I. were I now live and it seems he is following in his dads footsteps, or trying to, both politically and personally

[paularoid]

http://static.crooksandliars.com/files/movieimages/2009/08/9663.jpg?key=1251592779

http://www.americablog.com/2009/08/ted-kennedy-jr-remembers-his-dad.html

Ted Kennedy, Jr's eulogy of his dad (http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2009/08/ted_kennedy_jrs.html?p1=Well_MostPop_Emailed1):


...But today I'm simply compelled to remember Ted Kennedy as my father and my best friend. When I was 12 years old I was diagnosed with bone cancer and a few months after I lost my leg, there was a heavy snowfall over my childhood home outside of Washington D.C. My father went to the garage to get the old Flexible Flyer and asked me if I wanted to go sledding down the steep driveway. And I was trying to get used to my new artificial leg and the hill was covered with ice and snow and it wasn't easy for me to walk. And the hill was very slick and as I struggled to walk, I slipped and I fell on the ice and I started to cry and I said "I can't do this." I said, "I'll never be able to climb that hill." And he lifted me in his strong, gentle arms and said something I'll never forget. He said "I know you'll do it, there is nothing you can't do. We're going to climb that hill together, even if it takes us all day."

Sure enough, he held me around my waist and we slowly made it to the top, and, you know, at age 12 losing a leg pretty much seems like the end of the world, but as I climbed onto his back and we flew down the hill that day I knew he was right. I knew I was going to be OK. You see, my father taught me that even our most profound losses are survivable and it is what we do with that loss, our ability to transform it into a positive event, that is one of my father's greatest lessons. He taught me that nothing is impossible....

Download the whole thing in Windows Media Video here (http://crooksandliars.com/medialoader/9663/ae2b9/wmv/TeddyJrEulogy_08-29-09.wmv):
http://crooksandliars.com/medialoader/9663/ae2b9/wmv/TeddyJrEulogy_08-29-09.wmv

or in Apple Quicktime here (http://crooksandliars.com/medialoader/9663/ae2b9/mov/TeddyJrEulogy_08-29-09.mov):
http://crooksandliars.com/medialoader/9663/ae2b9/mov/TeddyJrEulogy_08-29-09.mov

[Chet]

After reading the new posts since mine, I just want to add something I had posted on my Facebook status box:

"My father was not perfect, but he believed in redemption." - Edward Kennedy, Jr.

[DaveM]

He was a man
Who lived at water's edge
And loved both tide and sand and the feel of nature's breath
He knew a dream delayed becomes a dream decayed
And so he fought on

He was a man
That understood
Untended and unintended
Neglect is the weed that strangles hope
In a garden of fragile seed

He was a man
The last of three, everyone said
But it was he who remembered one night
The one not here
The one -
Who had gone before in what they called the last good war

I never knew him, only of him, like most who passed the flag draped coffin
And when I asked
The villagers were divided
Some said, sinner
Some said, saint
But an old Tar said it best,
"When I navigate by stars, eyes on the horizon
My feet, like his, stumble on the stones."

He was a man
No greater, no less, he would say
Than others passed or yet to be
And when I asked, "What should we say?"
The old Tar said it best,
"Square the yards and trim the jib,
Fair winds and following seas, old friend.
Fair Winds and Following Seas."


If, when my time on this earth comes to a close, it is deemed worthy of such a summation, I will consider my life well-spent.

[Dee]

View From Washington: Ted Kennedy

Sen. Ted Kennedy's unfaltering devotion to the LGBT community during the AIDS crisis typified the wealth of humanity he offered to all.
By Kerry Eleveld

Memorializing a man regularly referred to as a “giant” is a nearly impossible task. But nothing says more to me about the character of the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy than the way he stood with the LGBT community at the outset of the AIDS epidemic.

When Kennedy took over the chairmanship of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee in 1987, our nation’s political elite had all but ignored AIDS for the bulk of the decade. In the intervening years between July 1981, when The New York Times ran its first article on the disease, and June 1987, when Ronald Reagan gave his first speech on the subject, more than 20,000 people had already died of AIDS in the United States.

Kennedy made AIDS a top priority in the Health committee, helped to secure $1.2 million in funding for AIDS research in 1988, and introduced and ultimately passed what became known as the Ryan White CARE Act, the largest federal program to provide critical medical treatment for people living with AIDS.

But Kennedy’s contributions were as notable for what he blocked as for what he passed.

“What people don't understand unless they were there during the darkest days in the '80s,” recalls LGBT activist David Mixner, “is that he stopped amendment after amendment proposed by [North Carolina senator] Jesse Helms -- some of the most draconian, hateful amendments imaginable.”

From measures that would have criminalized health care workers who knew they were HIV-positive and failed to tell their patients before surgery to allowing doctors to test patients for HIV without consent to criminalizing blood donations from HIV-positive people, Ted Kennedy was there to slay them all.

“One thing I have to say, we talk about how Clinton let us down on DOMA and ‘don’t ask, don’t tell,’ and now we're eight months into Obama and we haven’t gotten jack from him -- Ted Kennedy never let us down. Ever!” says Mixner.

Though Mixner is careful to note that he wasn’t Kennedy’s closest confidant, he nonetheless had a strong bond with the senator and attributes his loyalty to the LGBT community -- especially during the AIDS crisis -- to his own experience with saying goodbye to too many loved ones all too soon.

“He understood the concept of, every time you turn around, losing someone close to you -- unexpectedly,” says Mixner. “I think that's part of how he came to be so close to us -- that unbelievable connection he had to us through his own great loss.”

Mixner echoes the seemingly endless stream of stories over the past few days about Kennedy invariably reaching out to people in their lowest moments. “He would always call at just the right time and know exactly what to say and, without fail, make you laugh,” he says.

David Smith of the Human Rights Campaign received one of those treasured phone calls. Two years ago, Smith traveled to Spain to marry his partner and was joined by his family there. Five days after the ceremony, Smith’s father died of a massive stroke. As soon as his plane landed back in the states, Smith’s cell phone rang and Senator Kennedy was on the other end of the line.

“He had heard what had happened and he wanted to express his sadness,” Smith, who had worked for the senator, recalled in a very emotional moment earlier this week. “It was just the most touching thing that the first person to call me was him."

Ted Kennedy, while not perfect and certainly no stranger to controversy, was the ultimate vision of humanity. He had a unique instinct -- all too rare today -- to run toward people who were downtrodden, shunned, targeted by the mob mentality that sweeps our nation so swiftly and fervently these days.

His was a compassion born of personal tragedy that defies words. While I would wish the losses of Ted Kennedy on no one, our country yearns for more individuals, and especially leaders, like him. His life is a testimony to the immeasurable richness that hard-fought, gut-wrenching, soul-stirring pain can foster within people. Every one of us needs a Ted Kennedy in our life and should be so lucky as to have one.

A great man once said, “I am certain that after the dust of centuries has passed over our cities, we, too, will be remembered not for victories or defeats in battle or in politics, but for our contribution to the human spirit.”

Little did President John F. Kennedy know on that day in 1962 that his words would imbue the life of no man more wholly than that of his little brother Teddy.

August 28, 2009
The Advocate (http://www.advocate.com/print_article_ektid107998.asp)

RIP Mr Kennedy.