Senator Ted Kennedy Passes Away

[CountArach]

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/TedKe...ory?id=6692022

Sen. Ted Kennedy died shortly before midnight Tuesday at his home in Hyannis Port, Mass., at age 77.

The man known as the "liberal lion of the Senate" had fought a more than year-long battle with brain cancer, and according to his son had lived longer with the disease than his doctors expected him to.

"We've lost the irreplaceable center of our family and joyous light in our lives, but the inspiration of his faith, optimism, and perseverance will live on in our hearts forever," the Kennedy family said in a statement. "He loved this country and devoted his life to serving it."

Sen. Edward Moore Kennedy, the youngest Kennedy brother who was left to head the family's political dynasty after his brothers President John F. Kennedy and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy were assassinated.

This really does sadden me despite not being an American. Truly he always seemed to be a man with his heart in the right place who legitimately wanted to help people. I'm sure he will be sorely missed.

RIP

[InsaneApache]

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/TedKe...ory?id=6692022


This really does sadden me despite not being an American. Truly he always seemed to be a man with his heart in the right place who legitimately wanted to help people. I'm sure he will be sorely missed.

RIP

I'll wait until the guys cold before I rip him a new one.

[Crazed Rabbit]

A formidable politician.

RIP.

CR

[JAG]

The left in the US loses one of their finest spokesman.


RIP.

[Furunculus]

even Hannan was a fan of sorts -

"Ted Kennedy was wrong about most things, but he was a great parliamentarian":
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/da...rliamentarian/

[Centurion1]

While i may personally not like the man, i mourn his death as an elder statesman.

[Seamus Fermanagh]

I said an ave for the soul of my brother knight.

RIP Edward Moore Kennedy

[drone]

Haven't read the news, I imagine we are in for a formal State viewing.

Backroom rules on dead people prevent me from commenting further.

[Don Corleone]

I didn't know he was a Knight. Not sure how that changes my opinion of him....

I think he was an idealist who did what he believed was right and fought for that for a good portion of his life, and for that, should be honored, regardless of how correct I believe he was on the issues themselves.

I also think he was a deeply flawed individual with grave weaknesses, and those should not be glazed over in a rush to canonize him.

And as with the the departure of any human soul, I wish him peace and God's mercy and pray for his immortal soul.

[seireikhaan]

Rest in peace, Mr. Kennedy. May your family find solace in what is undoubtedly a mournful time.

[Hax]

Strength to the family.

A shame to see a great man pass away.

[Kralizec]

Rest in Peace.

[penguinking]

A great man, he worked tirelessly for human rights and justice, and the nation will truly miss him.

[Devastatin Dave]

We should make his liver a national monument.

[HopAlongBunny]

RIP Mr. Kennedy

[Don Corleone]

Would it be inappropriate to start another thread talking about the bizarre political wranglings to appoint his successor (of which, the late Senator himself was an active part)? It's all over the local news here in New England.

[KarlXII]

The last of a dynasty.....

RIP.

[lars573]

Far from it. You realize the Govenator is technically a Kennedy. And one of Ted's sons is a serving representative from Rhode Island.

[Banquo's Ghost]

Would it be inappropriate to start another thread talking about the bizarre political wranglings to appoint his successor (of which, the late Senator himself was an active part)? It's all over the local news here in New England.

It will be fine to discuss that issue, so long as any controversies directly attributable to Senator Kennedy himself are waived until after his funeral.

Clearly, Senator Kennedy had a significant influence on Ireland, which ought to be acknowledged with both thanks and regret for his journey. The discussion must however, wait a while.

He will be missed. RIP.

[Tribesman]

I didn't know he was a Knight

Its from the time when the politics of America were full of Kennedys , the years of the Court of Camelot and the Lady in the Lake.

[Crazed Rabbit]

Well he's buried now.

I could never respect that...'man' after he drove a woman into a river and left her to die several hours after the crash, trapped in the underwater car, breathing from an air pocket. Instead of even calling the police or someone, anyone, he left and went about trying to cover his trail.

A pathetic, selfish, coward. I'll be honest; my sense of justice would be disturbed if he rested in peace right now.

And then he went on to offer to aid and abet the Soviet Union in order to make things difficult for Reagan:

Picking his way through the Soviet archives that Boris Yeltsin had just thrown open, in 1991 Tim Sebastian, a reporter for the London Times, came across an arresting memorandum. Composed in 1983 by Victor Chebrikov, the top man at the KGB, the memorandum was addressed to Yuri Andropov, the top man in the entire USSR. The subject: Sen. Edward Kennedy.

"On 9-10 May of this year," the May 14 memorandum explained, "Sen. Edward Kennedy's close friend and trusted confidant [John] Tunney was in Moscow." (Tunney was Kennedy's law school roommate and a former Democratic senator from California.) "The senator charged Tunney to convey the following message, through confidential contacts, to the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Y. Andropov."

Kennedy's message was simple. He proposed an unabashed quid pro quo. Kennedy would lend Andropov a hand in dealing with President Reagan. In return, the Soviet leader would lend the Democratic Party a hand in challenging Reagan in the 1984 presidential election.

CR

[Xiahou]

Well he's buried now.

I could never respect that...'man' after he drove a woman into a river and left her to die several hours after the crash, trapped in the underwater car, breathing from an air pocket. Instead of even calling the police or someone, anyone, he left and went about trying to cover his trail.

Did you hear? According to a friend, one of Ted's favorite topics for jokes was Chappaquiddick. "Hear any new Chappaquiddick jokes?", he would ask. Truly a classy man....

[Vladimir]

Can I dance on his grave yet or is it too soon?

I suppose the "joke" comments were a coping mechanism. He did suffer because of it, however, I don't think he suffered enough.

[drone]

Can I dance on his grave yet or is it too soon?

Probably too soon. Help out the ANC landscapers and let the grass on top reset their roots first.

[Strike For The South]

My shotgun has killed less people than Ted Kennedys car.

There I said it and now I bow out of this thread.

[ICantSpellDawg]

He was a jerk who is now a part of history because he had popular brothers. Never liked him anyway.

He barely got a page, that's how you know he sucked. On tuesdays I not only insult the dead, but I fight corpses as well, i'll be here all week.

[Major Robert Dump]

According to Chris Matthews, Kennedy passed the torch to Obama and now Obama is the last brother. Seriously

[Kadagar_AV]

I could never respect that...'man' after he drove a woman into a river and left her to die several hours after the crash, trapped in the underwater car, breathing from an air pocket. Instead of even calling the police or someone, anyone, he left and went about trying to cover his trail.

is this true?

[Crazed Rabbit]

Yes it is; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Ken...ddick_incident

It looked as if she were holding herself up to get a last breath of air. It was a consciously assumed position. ... She didn't drown. She died of suffocation in her own air void. It took her at least three or four hours to die. I could have had her out of that car twenty-five minutes after I got the call. But he [Ted Kennedy] didn't call.
— diver John Farrar, Inquest into the Death of Mary Jo Kopechne, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Edgartown District Court. New York: EVR Productions, 1970.

CR

[Seamus Fermanagh]

According to Chris Matthews, Kennedy passed the torch to Obama and now Obama is the last brother. Seriously

He really did, in a political sense.

Kennedy's early endorsement of Obama and his very active support of the Obama candidacy were key early components of Obama's success. Kennedy did not side-step while waiting for the primary results as did so many, he came out for Obama and put his connections to work on his behalf at a crucial phase of the campaign. Following that endorsement, Obama was pulled progressively further and further ahead of Clinton.


I also think that Kennedy did see, in Obama, a political figure who would continue the fight for a number of issues about which Kennedy had very specific objectives. Obama campaigned as center-left (which is fairly close to the base views of a goodly percentage of the electorate), and has followed a center-left approach on legislative issues during his term thus far, but his executive orders and foreign policy efforts have been much closer to the left wing side of the spectrum.


So, however silly Matthews is being on one level -- and he's prone to such silliness in phrasing -- there is a grain of truth to what he says.