Kennedy Memorial Service Lays out the Contrast Between Dems and GOP: Service to the Nation or Service to the Self

Submitted by mark karlin on Sat, 08/29/2009 - 7:14am.

EditorBlog

BUZZFLASH EDITOR'S BLOG

By Mark Karlin

It was an Irish wake of the most pitch-perfect sort held for Ted Kennedy in Boston on Friday night: plenty of laughter and song, a celebration, a sense of thanks and gratitude for a full, rich life.

But Edward Kennedy also endured an extarordinary string of personal tragedies that would have turned a lesser man into a barely functioning person. Yes, he had his years of excess and reckless indulgence, but he never stopped working for the common good; it was what centered a life -- of what one commentator has noted -- Shakespearean proportions of loss.

Ted Kennedy remained the tenacious battler for what would benefit the people of the American nation. The Senate was his career, his job, his passion, his defining sense of purpose -- and his commitment to improving the lot of all Americans -- not just a select few -- was his mission.

Everyone has their own personal recollections of Ted Kennedy, even those of us who knew him from afar.

I recall a photo of him on a navy ship presiding over the burial of his nephew, the son of JFK, at sea after he and his wife and sister-in-law were killed in a freak plane accident on the way to his cousin's wedding on the Cape. I remember thinking to myself "how much personal tragedy can one man endure" and not fall to pieces.

And I remember at Yale -- many, many years ago -- when he came to speak to the political union. Protestors were advocating violence as a solution to a political issue of the time and interrupted his remarks. Kennedy let them have their say and then -- his voice audibly breaking and trembling -- admonished them that he knew personally the toll that violence takes upon a family and that it was not what our nation was about, nor would it yield anything but loss and pain. You could have heard a pin drop as he sucked the air out of the room with his spontaneous reaction from the depth of a wounded heart.

But the wake in Boston barely brushed up against the losses Kennedy endured.

Instead, like a good Irish wake, it celebrated the man and the joy of his life -- and what wonderful, dignified, classy, humorous personal reflections they were.

Ted Kennedy was there in the '60s -- which the right wing is till trying to turn back the clock on -- when Congress passed the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act, Medicare and more monumental legislation that increased the range of equality and care for our national community. Little known, he also championed a reform of our immigration laws that dramatically reduced the bias toward white European immigration and opened American immigration up more to the world.

As Vice-President Biden eloquently and movingly noted, with Ted Kennedy it was never about him, it was about "you." His life's work was spent working not for himself -- born to the privilege of the Kennedy fortune, mystique and fame -- but to uplift the lives of less fortunate Americans.

In hearing so much about the generous and thoughful personal Ted Kennedy, we learned even more how he represented the best of what Democrats and liberals stand for: service to the nation and to the American community.

It is a far cry from the greed, hate and hysteria of the Republicans who champion only service to the self.

BUZZFLASH EDITOR'S BLOG

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Submitted by www123 on Mon, 07/19/2010 - 8:41pm.

Ted Kennedy's work

Submitted by Martin Sadov on Fri, 06/11/2010 - 2:38am.

Senate's work was really a passin for Ted Kenndy. During each two-year Congress thousands of bills and resolutions are referred to Senate committees. To manage the volume and complexity, the Senate divides its work between commitees. There is a lot of work to deal with. Free Ads

Ted Kennedy held his Senate seat for more than four decades.

Submitted by Adam_March on Wed, 05/12/2010 - 5:00am.

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, and funded Meals on Wheels for fixed-income seniors. His other successes include reducing the voting age from 21 to 18, and Title IX, which gave women's athletics much better funding. Widely held as the "standard-bearer for liberalism", his legacy is that his era was dominated by conservatives and moderates.

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In 1964, for example,

Submitted by Adam_March on Thu, 05/06/2010 - 4:12am.

In 1964, for example, Kennedy was a passenger in a private airplane flying in bad weather from Washington to Massachusetts. It crashed into an apple orchard. The pilot and Edward Moss, one of Kennedy's aides, were killed. Kennedy was pulled from the wreckage by fellow senator and spent months in a hospital recovering from a severe back injury, broken ribs and internal bleeding. He suffered chronic back pain for the rest of his life.

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The Kennedy's vs the

Submitted by Tom S Cedar Mill on Sun, 08/30/2009 - 8:03pm.

The Kennedy's vs the Conservatives is an EXCELLENT point to make. The K's had all the money they could want and they chose public service. Conservative Republicans who have lots of money just try to get more.

Kennedys, Liberals and THE Problem

Submitted by jimeuf on Sat, 08/29/2009 - 10:27am.

The Passing of "Ted" Kennedy is a sad time for America. He was a tireless champion for the "real American", the everyday, hard working regular Joe. This man of means and position, and his brothers, could have gone through life without a care or concern for others but chose to devote all their energies to making things better for all. They gave so much because they were given so much and felt that they owed so much. A concept seemingly lost on most of today's greedy, grab it all, wealthy. For Generations now the working class of America always had a Kennedy around to lift our hopes and take our fight to those halls of power, trying to make them more into the halls of justice. Though not perfect, they never wavered in their commitment, and we learned to depend on them for strength. That is the problem. We became willing to let them, and a few others, take responsiblity for our cause. We became complacent and lazy, we forgot how to fight for ourselves. We began to go our separate ways and stopped working together. We looked at what was different about us and not at our comon causes. We did exactly what those who seek to keep us down wanted. We started to believe the lie that if we worked against eachother that we would become one of the elite, be welcomed by them. We sought the enemy and became them. We became victims. Not of the opposing side but of ourselves. So now that the last of our standardbearers has gone what do we do. Are we going to look for a replacement for those who cannot be replaced? Do we wander aimlessly? Do we just surrender? Hopefully we will re-learn how to unite and fight as one force with one voice, saying "We want our America back and God help you if you get in our way." We are a country of PEOPLE, not corporations or special interests. We must learn to think for ourselves, look after each other and help every citizen to achieve fulfillment. If the MSM won't do their jobs then we will do it for them and Bring truth to power and remind those in Washington who they really work for.

That is how we pay tribute and say thanks to the men who gave us so much.

Sen. Edward M.Kennedy, unlike his older

Submitted by resistfascism on Sun, 08/30/2009 - 2:24pm.

Seems to me..............

brothers, did 'live to comb gray hair.' And, we are all the better for it. RIP

Re; Kennedys, Liberals and THE Problem

Submitted by anklejive on Sat, 08/29/2009 - 1:19pm.

Beautifully and eloquently stated. Thank you! It's easy (and lazy) to sit back and expect others to do the dirty or hard work.

Magnificent. Bravo. Thank you Mark. Thank you Ted.

Submitted by Start Loving on Sat, 08/29/2009 - 9:23am.

"Ted Kennedy remained the tenacious battler for what would benefit the people of the American nation. The Senate was his career, his job, his passion, his defining sense of purpose -- and his commitment to improving the lot of all Americans -- not just a select few -- was his mission."

Who will replace Ted? Us, or no one. It is time; OUR time.

Time for us to join Ted on the field of battle.

Time for us to join his greatest gift to us, President Obama.

Carpe diem.

Ted Kennedy's "greatest gift" ....

Submitted by Yman on Sat, 08/29/2009 - 2:31pm.

... to us is Obama?!?!!

LOLOLOLOL!!!!

Hey, ...... what's the exchange policy?

But a caution -

Submitted by Start Loving on Sat, 08/29/2009 - 10:16am.

Ted, in the end, escaped the ruin of most Democrats, Liberals, Progressives as denoted by the great activist Edward Abbey,

"Sentiment without action is the ruin of the soul."

May we escape the ruin that Ted escaped. Let us ACT. Now.

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