Edward Kennedy

[bixaorellana]

Sen. Ted Kennedy Dies at 77



www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/26/AR2009082600063.html?hpid=topnews

[traveler63]

I am very sad about Teddy Kennedy. I grew up in the shadow of all of the Kennedy brothers. It was the most exciting era. I can truly say that they were such an influence on me and helped to shape my political philosophy. I would have voted for Bobby and that would have been my first vote because at that time you had to be 21 to vote. I was in Los Angeles that night staying in a hotel not to far from where he was shot and killed.

The one thing I can say is regular Americans could not have had a better champion than Teddy Kennedy. I do not think that we in the US will ever see someone the likes of him again. He had his bad points but he always stood for fairness and there wasn't a bill that he got passed that didn't have Republican votes even after the Republican party would spend millions to defeat them. He is what I define as a true Statesman.

[Deleted]

Normally, I would say something trite like 'the end of an era' but I feel as though the era already ended a few years ago. But I really admire the fact that he fought to the end.

I only voted in one U.S. presidential election. Once I started paying taxes in another country, I felt that I had relinquished my right to have a say in how the country is run, even though I have retained the passport.

[lagatta]

One will of course find the most information at www.boston.com (Boston Globe website).

Obama will be delivering the eulogy. I wonder what influence Kennedy's passing will have on healthcare reform?

[bixaorellana]

Interesting you should say that, LaGatta. Really, if there were ever a time when the influence and human-needs driven spirit of Ted Kennedy is needed, it is now.

[Jazz]

Since the passing of Ted Kennedy, I have watched much coverage of his life and, when all is said and done, I think that he has left a great legacy. He was very strong and prevailed over many events in his life... the death of his adored older brother, Joe, the death of his sister Kathleen, the assassination of two other loved brothers, JFK and Bobby, and recovery from a plane crash where he broke his back.

Somehow, he endured and recovered from the terrible incident at Chapquadick. He had to live with the fact of how he dealt with this tragedy with young Mary Jo Kopekne, and, he looked very weak and poor in this moment. This seemed to lead to the end of his marriage, his own battle with alcoholism and some years spent in limbo. ( Personal note: I don't think he ever recovered from this terrible moment of weakness and spent the rest of his life trying to compensate.)

I respect Ted Kennedy for pulling himself together and trying to go forward and use his gifts, his power and his influence in a positive way. As I watched many clips of him since that time, I was surprised at how often and how early he spoke in the Senate and in other platforms for 'Rights'....racial, women's, minimum wage, children's and equal rights for health care. Equal health care for all Americans was indeed something he cared about and has fought for since 1976? Not only did he talk about the need for these rights, he was an extremely effective legislator in the US senate to make them become reality. Obama has lost the single most powerful ally and strategist for his Health Care Bill. There is presently no one in the US Senate with Ted Kennedy's power and influence. Possibly, people will be united by his death and understand how important it was to him, to their people as a whole, and as a tribute, unite and pass the bill. We, in Canada, have had universal health coverage for many years, as have many European countries. I simply do not understand the present US position.

Ted Kennedy's last great battle was with his diagnosis of a brain tumour. He endured and prevailed in this fourteen months...was present in the Senate to a degree, and took the momentous decision of endorsing Obama for president---this changed the course of American history. He probably was the most effective legislator in the US congress of the last hundred years, certainly the last fifty years. He will be missed.

[lagatta]

We have a great deal of trouble understanding how a country with not only the standard of living but the number of Nobel-prize winners in medicine and related fields can be the only place in the Western world without universal health coverage - this view is shared even by the people I know who vote Conservative. It is a done deal here, and despite the many problems, many of the people I know would not be alive without such coverage.

There is a LOT of coverage about Ted Kennedy in French here in Québec, which is not so much the case for internal US issues. The last time I heard so much US coverage not involving a war or other international event (including obviously Obama's election) was Katrina in New Orleans, as people here feel a kinship with NOLA and raised a lot of money to send to our southern cousins (black, white or in-between). Of course the Kennedy's are from a nearby region, and for older people the fact that they were Irish Catholics resonated a lot. Many French-speaking Quebecers have Irish ancestry because the famine orphans were adopted by French-speaking families, and there was a lot of intermarriage because religion was more important than language back then.

Like Jazz, I'm hoping the importance of this struggle will be understood.

[bixaorellana]

I didn't know that about the famine orphans! Most interesting.

We don't have universal health coverage. What we do have is a very strong insurance lobby, "health providers" -- doctors, clinics, and hospitals -- who benefit from the whole fucked-up insurance system, and STUPID voters who run screaming from the merest whisper of the word "socialism", without even knowing what it means.

And when it comes to sincere respect for human rights and making laws to ensure and protect those rights, the Republicans are sheerly, totally, cynically, gleefully EVIL.

[Deleted]

All our smart voters move to other countries

Ted Kennedy will certainly be remembered as the first US Senator to tour NOLA after Katrina and was responsible for much of the relief money that eventually made it's way here.
He will be greatly missed for all the aforementioned comments.

[bixaorellana]

Those of you in the US may be burnt out with the news coverage by now. But if you're not, and if you haven't read the OP link, it's quite interesting -- the stuff of blockbuster novels.

I did not know/remember that he was the first senator to tour New Orleans after Katrina. Figures!