Mike the Mad Biologist

Sen. Edward Kennedy, RIP

Posted by Mike on August 26, 2009
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Senator Kennedy died late last night. From his family:

“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.

“We thank everyone who gave him care and support over this last year, and everyone who stood with him for so many years in his tireless march for progress toward justice, fairness and opportunity for all.

“He loved this country and devoted his life to serving it.

“He always believed that our best days were still ahead, but it’s hard to imagine any of them without him.”

From The Boston Globe:

Bill by bill, provision by provision, he expanded government health support to millions of children and the elderly, helped millions more go to college, opened the immigration doors to millions of new Americans from continents other than Europe, and protected the civil rights bulwark of the ’60s through a long period of conservative domination….

Ted Kennedy was always more consistent than his brothers, a pure liberal who believed in the government’s obligation to help the less fortunate. While Jack Kennedy ran for president as a centrist, and Bobby followed a zigzag path from the anticommunist right to the antiwar left, Ted was always a fixed point on the political map.

While most of his colleagues’ eyes would glaze over at the details of spending bill, Kennedy could easily recite the difference between a formula that gave benefits to families up to 30 percent above the poverty level and one that gave benefits to those 40 percent above. He could say just how many families were in that extra sliver and envision the human beings behind the statistics.

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Comments

  1. #1 NewEnglandBob
    August 26, 2009

    Ted will be missed in Massachusetts, the US and the world.

  2. #2 Mike H
    August 26, 2009

    Now he can apologize to Mary Jo face to face.

  3. #3 Constance Reader
    August 26, 2009

    Mike H:

    And even in death, Uncle Teddy has more class than you.

  4. #4 Mike H
    August 26, 2009

    With all the talk of Camelot, its nice that someone reminds us of the Lady in the Lake.

  5. #5 Troublesome Frog
    August 26, 2009

    Did Mike H just post–gasp!–two posts on the same topic? It’s almost as though he’s losing his run-by troll touch. What made you look back?

  6. #6 Eunice Kennedy
    August 27, 2009

    Senator Ted Kennedy was a giant of a public figure who shaped legislation that impacted people’s lives in ways big and small. With today’s roiling debate on health insurance reform, much attention will rightly be placed on Sen. Kennedy’s legacy of leadership and passion on ensuring that all Americans have access to affordable, quality coverage.Ted Kennedy left the world just after weeks when his sister died.Eunice Kennedy has been hospitalized, and is reportedly dead. Eunice Kennedy, better known as Eunice Kennedy Shriver, is the wife of Robert Sargent Shriver, and the sister of John F. Kennedy, and therefore Robert, Rose, and Edward. She helped found the Peace Corps and the Special Olympics, and her oldest daughter, one of five children she had with Robert, is First Lady of California, Maria Shriver, who married Arnold Schwarzenegger. Hers has thus far been a life of privilege, but that privilege was used to serve the greater good, as she had done great work and given many cash advances to good causes. The world needs more like Eunice Kennedy.