Ted Kennedy is dead

Not unexpected but sad to see hear about all the same. Time to put in the American Experience The Kennedys documentary.

Truly, the end of an era and dynasty.

Oh no. That's so sad....

Questionable incident 40 years ago or no, Ted worked his ass off for his country.

I'm sure the right will handle this with the grace and decorum it deserves.

RIP, you grand old drunkard.

Ted and Mary Jo, together at last.

Era, I agree.

Ted Kennedy has paid for Chapaquiddick in full, in my opinion. He's done more for the downtrodden in this country than any Republican ever has.

Rest in peace, Teddy.

I'd amend the original post to: Wow, the last great senator is dead.

And I'd argue the first Republican President did more for the downtrodden than Uncle Ted, Alan.

But the Lion isn't far behind, and well ahead of all of his peers.

Okay, I'll give you Lincoln.

We can't even pay tribute to Teddy without somebody jerking off Lincoln.

Fuck Lincoln, Fuck his "party" and let's all go drink a bottle of scotch in honor of that stubborn sum bitch because he fought the good fight.

Makes me wonder about term limits for Senators. That is an awfully very long time for the same person to hold office, yeah they're elected but you wonder if that is the most healthy thing for the nation.

Here's to you, Ted. You were a true champion of your people.

I support term limits for Senators. And now, literally, the only great argument against that just passed away. Because I would not support term limits if it meant losing a leader like Kennedy.

And I didn't "jerk off" Lincoln. I responded to Alan's emotional comment with a counterpoint. Had that comment not been made (and I understand the sentiment that caused Alan to make it), I never would have brought him up. This is a thread for the Lion of the Senate. And thus, I finished my post praising uncle Ted.

The MA governor doesn't appoint the replacement under current Mass. law. The law was changed to hold special elections within six months of vacancy during the 2004 election cycle so that, if Kerry won, Mittens wouldn't replace him with a Republican.

Some state legislature wasn't thinking ahead, I think.

Fuck Lincoln.

Fin

My early quip aside, I had a ton of respect for this guy. Having to bury two brothers before you turn 40 can't be easy, but it seemed to me he never traded in on that for any kind of personal gain. And yes, he's more than paid for Chappaquiddick.

Then you don't support term limits in the first place.

Nice of you to cunt up a thread. Cool it.

And with that the number of real actual liberals in politics is down to, what, Feingold, Kucinich and Saunders?

RIP Senior Senator from Mass.

No, not really. I support the idea of forcing politicians to focus on their work, and not re-election. I know the Senatorial election cycle is every 6 years, but it eats about 20% of the their individual time up (which is much less than Congresspersons, who seem to lose about 50-60%). It is a balance, losing experience and process expertise to gain politicians less beholden to the cycle. I probably overspoke. I support examining term limits, how about that?

And my love of Ted Kennedy does not come from an ideological alignment. I'm not a liberal. But he was the greatest senator in my lifetime (and a few generations before as well) because he spoke will to power with respect to his beliefs, and he cared much more about getting things done than he did getting credit or winning a partisan point. He would work with anybody and meet with anybody to accomplish his goals. He put the citizens first. That sounds simple, but it rarely happens. He got the little things right (taking care of his constituents), and he got the big things right (fighting the right fights).

He was a credit to the institution, the process, his beliefs, and the country.

Medicare, Medicaid, the ADA, Robert Bork, the Immigration Act of 1965, SCHIP, campaign finance laws, and much more - missteps like NCLB aside, you will be sorely missed, Ted. Not to mention that he was the only significant politician with power since, what, Truman to champion universal health care?

There are plenty of real liberals in politics, like my own Rep. Raul Grijalva (best vote I've made yet), but like Grijalva most of them are in the House of Representatives and thus have little real power. Feingold and Sanders unfortunately each have only as much influence as any other Senator, including the many blue dogs and archconservatives that outnumber them.

Eddie, I know you gotta meet the quota but you could of come up with something a little bit better.

I was just about to say this. Is there an actual liberal of Kennedy's status left in the Democrats? As if your system wasn't skewed far enough to the right as it is.

Welp,

From the comments over at Ann Althouse's site.

How can people be so monstrously stupid and still manage to survive everyday life?

There are liberals in the house, but no one has the stature of Ted Kennedy. (I doubt anyone will again) That man was in a class of his own.

I grew up in Massachusetts and there was one thing you could always count on back then: the Red Sox losing, and Ted Kennedy being office. We fixed one a few years ago, but man...Kennedy's just always been there. It's going to be weird not having him there (from a strictly quasi-emotional standpoint as I do not live in Mass anymore).

In the senate, along with the senators already listed by other chewers, I would also add Patrick Leahy and Franken. Possbily Schumer and Kerry as well, at least as far as domestic policy goes.

There are tons of actual liberals in the house tho.

I got that beat:

Man, that's a shame. Kennedy was fantastic, and will be sorely missed.

And why haven't people let go of the damn Mary Jo thing? It may have been an error, but come on. Would you like everything foolish you did 40 years ago brought up against you at every opportunity?

"Hey, I got a new job."
"Hey, you broke a fucking washing machine when you were 6, commie!"

Huh ... really bad example there bud.

It's pretty well how I view the incident. Just total lack of caring.

Well, a broken house appliance is a tad different than a life being extinguished due to drunken negligence.

But thats just my opinion.

RIP Senator. Hope his family is doing ok.

"AlmightyShmun, you're a wonderful human being"

Edit:
NVM.

I'm not absolving him of what he did. I'm saying I think he's paid for it. He's done too many good things for America for this incident to negate.

A shame. He seemed to take his work seriously.

James Inhofe will probably live to be 108, of course.

And this is in reply to ........... ?

Dead terrorist fist jab ammirite guys

No one in particular. Shmun's dismissal of her death, mostly. I still think it's a terrible tragedy. But Kennedy's a Catholic, and I think he's made his peace with it. And he's worked hard for the less fortunate in this country. His debt's paid.

There's probably people out there who think he's in hell right now. They're wrong, if they know anything about Catholicism. Plus they're wrong because there is no hell, but that's just me. Heh.

And the cuntin' continues. Way to ruin Ted Kennedy's death!

Bingo.

As a Massachusetts Native, I just will say, RIP Tedward. I was not the biggest Kennedy fan (not saying I do not like them, I am just not their biggest fan), but this is a sad day for America.

I just hope we do not get a Kristen 'Tracy Flick' Gillabrand style replacement

Misspelling utopia...awesome...

So now we're holding people accountable for what your facebook "friends" post?

Did I in any way blame Palin for what her friends wrote? Even the article says what she posted was pretty classy.