Ted Kennedy Dead at 77.

[Clipper]

Today is a sad day in the history of the United States, as we mourn the passing of a great statesman and brilliant political mind.

I have never been a fan of Ted Kennedy, or any of the New England Democrats, such as John Kerry and others. I condemned Ted Kennedy as a coward and a drunk for his handling of the Chappequidick incident, and the fact that his money saved his cowardly ass from any prosecution.

I do however have to laud his accomplishments in the Senate. He has championed the causes of the underdog and played a major role in civil rights legislation for all of his long and distinguished career. I DON'T LAUD HIS EFFORTS TO PUSH OBAMA'S HEALTHCARE AGENDA THOUGH!

I have always simply found it rather disgusting that bootlegging money had brought all of the Kennedy brothers to the top of the political pond, where they bloomed like algae. Money talks and in the case of the Kennedys it has shouted loud for a long long time. Influence IS for sale, and it is not cheap.

My thoughts and prayers are with the family of Ted Kennedy today, as they mourn the loss of their patriarch. Whatever my personal opinions of him, he was the only remaining Kennedy brother, and his death marks the passing of a political icon. While our politics didn't agree, and his drinking tarnished his reputation and caused a lot of grief for the family of the girl killed in the accident, he WAS a great statesman and his wisdom will be missed by Democrats and Republicans alike.

I have a friend that is also dying of brain cancer. He is going to the funeral home today to make his own arrangements. He has only weeks to live, and is failing daily. Brain cancer is a horrible and painful way to die. Carl's brain is swelling due to bleeding into his skull from the tumor. He has in the period of a week, gone from walking and coming to the bowling alley to watch his team bowl, to barely being able to sit up, and has to have assistance to go to the bathroom or to get from bed to a chair. He is a wonderful husband, father, and a papaw that is adored by his grandkids. It is very sad to watch as he fails and nears death. Please pray for the Foran family also, while we are thinking of the Kennedy's and the grief brought about by the cancer of the brain.

[dgriffin]

USA TODAY


Kennedy funeral rings with hope, Twitter with vitriol


Interesting article at:


content.usatoday.com/communities/Religion/post/2009/08/kennedy-funeral-prayer-praise-and-hope-of-heaven/1


I wonder if anyone has ever counted up the number of "American Icon" tributes granted by the Media.

[Clipper]

While I was never a Ted Kennedy supporter or fan, I DID watch his funeral mass on TV this morning. I was impressed with his accomplishments for the working man, and his legislative record. He has certainly had a major influence on American politics over the years that he served in the Senate.

While I thought it disgusting that he was allowed to escape punishment for his role in the Chappaquiddick incident, I am sure that God has forgiven him his indiscretions, as he forgives us all. He most likely has done many more good deeds than bad. Not one of us is without sin, and I have certainly committed my share.

I hope that Senator Kennedy rests in peace.

I laughed out loud when I saw GW sitting next to Hillary and surrounded by democrats at the funeral mass. He must have felt like he was swimming bare assed among crocodiles, hahaha. Hillary looked like she just crawled out of bed, and forgot to put a brush through her hair.

I was also amused by the strange looking dude with the huge black beard, and the bald head that was serving on the alter. He looked more like an Ayatollah than a devout catholic, LOL.

[dgriffin]

In another thread, "Idle Young Should Be Entitled To Nothing," a couple of paragraphs in the referenced newspaper article from The Times of London are apt, I think:

"I thought of his (Charles Murray) work again last week as praise was heaped on the late Senator Ted Kennedy for his work to improve the standing of black Americans. Constitutional reforms in the 1960s under the presidencies of his brother John and of Lyndon Johnson undoubtedly transformed the political rights of minorities; and the senator’s own efforts back then cleared the way for a black president to enter the White House. But the welfare reforms of American liberals in that era paralysed the economic progress of millions.

To quote Murray: “During precisely this period, fundamental changes occurred in the philosophy, administration and magnitude of social welfare programmes for low-income families and these changes altered — both directly and indirectly — the social risks and rewards, and the financial costs and benefits, of maintaining a husband-wife family.”

"Because black families were among the poorest — but not because they were black — they fell victim to spiralling welfare budgets. State handouts devalued education, discouraged work and marriage, encouraged teenage pregnancy and undermined parental authority.

The same has happened to the poorest people in Britain, only more so. At least in America the destructive advance of welfare has been questioned and slowed because most Americans still have an antipathy for government intervention in people’s lives. Also, for many poor Americans religious faith has sustained their sense of purpose and self-esteem. "

Murray’s book Losing Ground, his influential 1984 analysis of American social policy, was closely followed by Lawrence Mead’s Beyond Entitlement, the title of which summarises what would need to be done. We ought not to be handing out benefits as a matter of right. They should help people through misfortunes, not subsidise slobbery. They should go to the deserving, not the undeserving. They should pull people up, not push them down.

It might have been possible for the state to fine-tune benefits in that way in the days when parishes organised relief and every claimant was known to the local poor law guardians. It is much more difficult today in systems that are nationalised and standardised. "

[Clipper]

quote" We ought not to be handing out benefits as a matter of right. They should help people through misfortunes, not subsidise slobbery. They should go to the deserving, not the undeserving. They should pull people up, not push them down."unquote

That is a great post Dave, and the quote above summarizes my feelings about welfare in a nutshell. I am not clear as to whether that quote comes from you or Lawrence Meade, but it says it all.

It is sad that some states, such as NY, make welfare attractive to the lazy, and provide enough assistance that a person cannot afford to work part time, because they would lose more in benefits than they would make in wages. Workfare and a limited term for assistance should be the norm. a person should have to apply and interview for jobs regularly, as you are required to do for unemployment benefits, and one should have to re-apply periodically, in order to keep the "chronic" from becoming too comfortable and accustomed to the "freebies". "Workfare" should also be intituted for those able bodied and of working age.

I have learned a lot in the last week about Ted Kennedy's contributions politically. I was suffering under the misconception that he championed the rights of the working man, not the lazy and non-working.

[snickers]

Thus ends an era in American history. And for that I say, Thank God.

[dgriffin]

"Subsidize slobbery" is Michael Portillo speaking in the block quote (above) from his article in the Times of L. Also in the block, Portillo quotes Charles Murray, who Portillo refers to as "the conservative polemicist," evidently in a complimentary manner.

Here's the ref. to the article, by the way:

www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment....icle6814986.ece

I found it particularly interesting that Portillo does not mention of race or nationality in Britain. Like most European countries, it is being overrun by immigrants from the MidEast, whose young men have nothing useful to do for work. These people are not being assimilated and in fact have been pushing for the right to implement religious law as part of the Britain's legal code. And they've had some success. If MidEasterners eventually take over Europe, and that is a numerical possibility in the near future, it will be worse than ironic that public assistance was provided to them in large quantities as they waited around for the "gathering storm," to borrow a phrase from Churchill.

Imagine what it will be like when America is estranged from Europe. Muslim-ization will take a bit longer to happen here. But already we see our system being set up for it. There may be no conscious conspiracy at this time, but the liberalization of our culture and values will pave the way for those who disrespect it to take advantage of our open society for their own goals. Teddy Kennedy contributed a large part to the dismantling of American values.

[Clipper]

He not only contributed personally. He has influenced and exercised his power in the party over idiots like Pelosi, Reid, Kerry, and others. It has always amazed me that the people of Massachusetts could overlook the man's moral turpitude and worship him like some sort of political God.

One would have thought that a rehab would have been in order after Chappequidick, but until the day he died, his drinking had slowed but not stopped, and he always looked like he was marinated in martinis.

His political influences were not the only issues that were affected by his decisions and liberal lifestyle. He came from a family of "womanizers" and crooks that respected nothing but money and influence. They were all brilliant studies in political science, but were literally extremely "liberal", not only in their politics, but also in their interpretation of the ten commandments and their marriage vows.

[dgriffin]

Here's some of the "vitriol" mentioned in an earlier post. I'm sure some of it is overblown, but not much. I did read somewhere that his last wife was responsible for keeping him more sober than in the past and was a great help to him as he supposedly resurrected his career. This letter has been making the rounds on the internet. I don't know its provenance.

The Last of the Kennedy Dynasty.

As soon as his cancer was detected, I noticed the immediate attempt at the "canonization" of old Teddy Kennedy by the mainstream media. They are saying what a "great American" he is. I say, let's get a couple things clear & not twist the facts to change the real history …



1. He was caught cheating at Harvard when he attended it. He was expelled twice, once for cheating on a test, and once for paying a classmate to cheat for him.

2. While expelled, Kennedy enlisted in the Army, but mistakenly signed up for four years instead of two. Oops! The man can't count to four! His father, Joseph P. Kennedy, former U.S. Ambassador to England (a step up from bootlegging liquor into the US from Canada during prohibition), pulled the necessary strings to have his enlistment shortened to two years, and to ensure that he served in Europe, not Korea , where a war was raging, he had preferential treatment for him! (like he charged that President Bush received).

3. Kennedy was assigned to Paris, never advanced beyond the rank of Private, and returned to Harvard upon being discharged. Imagine a person of his "education" NEVER advancing past the rank of Private!

4. While attending law school at the University of Virginia, he was cited for reckless driving four times, including once when he was clocked driving 90 miles per hour in a residential neighborhood with his headlights off after dark.. Yet his Virginia driver's license was never revoked. Coincidentally, he passed the bar exam in 1959. Amazing!

5. In 1964, he was seriously injured in a plane crash and hospitalized for several months. Test results done by the hospital at the time he was admitted had shown he was legally intoxicated. The results of those tests remained a "state secret" until in the 1980's when the report was unsealed. Didn't hear about that from the unbiased media, did we?

6. On July 19, 1969, Kennedy attended a party on Chappaquiddick Island in Massachusetts. At about 11:00 PM, he borrowed his chauffeur's keys to his Oldsmobile limousine and offered to give a ride home to Mary Jo Kopechne, a campaign worker. Leaving the island via an unlit bridge with no guard rail, Kennedy steered the car off the bridge, flipped, and into Poucha Pond.

7. He swam to shore and walked back to the party passing several houses and a fire station. Two friends then returned with him to the scene of the accident. According to their later testimony, they told him what he already knew - that he was required by law to immediately report the accident to the authorities. Instead Kennedy made his way to his hotel, called his lawyer, and went to sleep. Kennedy called the police the next morning and by then the wreck had already been discovered. Before dying, Kopechne had scratched at the upholstered floor above her head in the upside-down car. The Kennedy family began "calling in favors", ensuring that any inquiry would be contained. Her corpse was whisked out-of-state to her family before an autopsy could be conducted. Further details are uncertain, but after the accident Kennedy says he repeatedly dove under the water trying to rescue Kopechne and he didn't call police because he was in a state of shock. It is widely assumed Kennedy was drunk, and he held off calling police in hopes that his family could fix the problem overnight. Since the accident Kennedy's "political enemies" have referred to him as the distinguished Senator from Chappaquiddick. He pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident, and was given a SUSPENDED SENTENCE OF TWO MONTHS. Kopechne's family received a small payout from the Kennedy's insurance policy and never sued. There was later an effort to have her body exhumed and autopsied, but her family successfully fought against this in court, and Kennedy's family paid their attorney's bills ... a "token of friendship"?

8. Kennedy has held his Senate seat for more than forty years, but considering his longevity, his accomplishments seem scant. He authored or argued for legislation that ensured a variety of civil rights, increased the minimum wage in 1981, made access to health care easier for the indigent, funded Meals on Wheels for fixed-income seniors, and is widely held as the "standard-bearer for liberalism". In his very first Senate roll he was the floor manager for the bill that turned U.S. immigration policy upside down and opened the floodgate for immigrants from third world countries..

9. Since that time, he has been the prime instigator and author of every expansion of an increase in immigration up to and including the latest attempt to grant amnesty to illegal aliens. Not to mention the pious grilling he gave the last two Supreme Court nominees, as if he was the standard bearer for the nation in matters of "what is right" What a pompous ass!

10. He is known around Washington as a public drunk, loud, boisterous, and very disrespectful to ladies. JERK is a better description than "great American".
"A blonde in every pond" is his motto.

Let's not allow the spin doctors to make this jerk a hero -- how quickly the American public forgets what his real legacy is.

Send this on, as a LOT of the younger people don't have a clue about all of this, and us older ones tend to forget things that happened so many years ago. Although I HAVEN'T!



Gary

[dgriffin]

This past week, Rolling Stone re-published on the Internet their 1980 interview of Kennedy when he was campaigning against Carter that year. Whatever your political persuasion (and Rolling Stone's is obvious), this is worth the read.

www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/29858515/ted_kennedys_war_against_the_white_house

[dgriffin]

Things only a Kennedy could get away with


And by not calling his bluff on Chappaquiddick, Americans became complicit in it.


Mark Steyn

We are enjoined not to speak ill of the dead. But, when an entire nation – or, at any rate, its "mainstream" media culture – declines to speak the truth about the dead, we are certainly entitled to speak ill of such false eulogists. In its coverage of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy's passing, America's TV networks are creepily reminiscent of those plays Sam Shepard used to write about some dysfunctional inbred hardscrabble Appalachian household where there's a baby buried in the backyard but everyone agreed years ago never to mention it.

In this case, the unmentionable corpse is Mary Jo Kopechne, 1940-1969. If you have to bring up the, ah, circumstances of that year of decease, keep it general, keep it vague. As Kennedy flack Ted Sorensen put it in Time magazine:

"Both a plane crash in Massachusetts in 1964 and the ugly automobile accident on Chappaquiddick Island in 1969 almost cost him his life …"

That's the way to do it! An "accident," "ugly" in some unspecified way, just happened to happen – and only to him, nobody else. Ted's the star, and there's no room to namecheck the bit players. What befell him was … a thing, a place. As Joan Vennochi wrote in The Boston Globe:

"Like all figures in history – and like those in the Bible, for that matter – Kennedy came with flaws. Moses had a temper. Peter betrayed Jesus. Kennedy had Chappaquiddick, a moment of tremendous moral collapse."

Actually, Peter denied Jesus, rather than "betrayed" him, but close enough for Catholic-lite Massachusetts. And if Moses having a temper never led him to leave some gal at the bottom of the Red Sea, well, let's face it, he doesn't have Ted's tremendous legislative legacy, does he? Perhaps it's kinder simply to airbrush out of the record the name of the unfortunate complicating factor on the receiving end of that moment of "tremendous moral collapse." When Kennedy cheerleaders do get around to mentioning her, it's usually to add insult to fatal injury. As Teddy's biographer Adam Clymer wrote, Edward Kennedy's "achievements as a senator have towered over his time, changing the lives of far more Americans than remember the name Mary Jo Kopechne."

(What an absolutely awful thing for Clymer to say. This must be the most despicable sentence in all his writing. - Dave)

CONTINUED AT:

www.ocregister.com/articles/kennedy-ted-chappaquiddick-2545006-mary-senator

Note the comparison of Kennedy to Britain's John Profumo.