Ted Kennedy, lion of the Senate, is dead

The death of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts marks the end of Camelot – a 50-year period in American politics during which the Kennedy family was treated like royalty. 

And no one was more acutely aware that this end would come with his death than Kennedy himself.  No doubt this is why he made such a royal show of passing his family’s proverbial torch to Barack Obama at last summer’s Democratic National Convention.

But I am sensible enough to realize that nothing I write on this occasion can possibly compete with the media saturation of eulogies to this man – who was revered as the lion of the US Senate because of the unprecedented and unparalleled influence he wielded over that august chamber. 

Never mind the irony that he never achieved the one legislative objective that he always insisted was the cause of his life; namely, making health care available for all Americans, not as a privilege but as a fundamental right.

Therefore, I shall suffice to reprise the tribute I wrote 15 months ago when he was first diagnosed with the terminal cancer that finally claimed him on Tuesday night:

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A prayer for Ted Kennedy

Given the way his political friends (and enemies) were eulogizing him in Washington yesterday, one can be forgiven the impression that Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass) had just passed away.

To be sure, after suffering two seizures over the weekend, Kennedy (76) is now fighting for his life. After all, doctors have diagnosed him with a malignant brain tumor called glioma that experts say will kill him within “one or five years…or more.”

And I have no doubt that some of the emotional outpouring from his colleagues was genuinely felt. Indeed, how can one not be moved by the sight of wheelchair-bound, 90-year old Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va) – the only senator who has served longer than Kennedy – crying uncontrollably as he prayed on the floor of the US Senate:

My dear, dear friend, dear friend, Ted Kennedy. Keep Ted here for us and for America…Ted, Ted, my dear friend, I love you and I miss you.

Moreover, there’s no denying that he will be missed – given his role as the champion of such worthy causes as workers’ rights, civil rights for illegal immigrants and health care reform during his 45 years in the Senate.

But I’m mindful that Kennedy is the last of four brothers whose family life played out on the world stage like a Greek tragedy. After all, this is a man who was born into the wealth and privilege his father Joe amassed through various business and stock-trading schemes of doubtful legality, including reportedly peddling booze during Prohibition. Yet his life is noted more for its tragedies than for his accomplishments.

For example, his eldest brother, Joseph (not pictured), died in a World War II plane crash; another brother, President John F. Kennedy (right), was assassinated in 1963; and yet another, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy (left), was assassinated in 1968.

Not to mention the untimely deaths of two of his nephews: Michael in a skiing accident in 1997 and JFK Jr in a plane crash in 1999; or the notorious Palm Beach rape trial of yet another, William Kennedy Smith, which stemmed from a night of boozing with “Uncle Ted” and at which he was compelled to testify as the star witness for the defense.

Then, of course, there are the alcohol-fueled tragedies of his own making, most notably, causing the death of one of his young campaign workers in 1969 when he drove his car off a bridge to Chappaquiddick island (in Massachusetts), then fled the scene and did not call for help until the next day. (He got off by wearing a neck brace and pleading guilty to leaving the scene of an accident, for which he received an indulgent two-month suspended jail sentence.)

All the same, my personal feelings about Kennedy can be summed up as follows:

This “liberal lion” and champion of civil rights was purportedly so disgusted by the way the Clintons were playing the race card in this year’s presidential campaign that he felt morally compelled to endorse Barack Obama.

Yet this is the same man who called a black female judge, Janice Rogers, an ape (a Neanderthal) because he deemed her judicial opinions too conservative.

Then there’s the fact that he cared so little about party unity that he challenged a sitting Democratic president, Jimmy Carter, in 1980. And when he ended up in Hillary’s current position (as the vanquished Democratic nominee), he not only refused to get out of the race but even refused to shake Carter’s hand at the convention after Carter was declared the nominee.

Yet this is the same man who is now calling on Hillary to do the right thing by getting out of the race before the convention while insinuating that Obama should not even consider her as a running mate in the interest of party unity….

But despite it all, this is a man whose commitment to public service is every bit as legend as the manor to which he was born.

Get well Teddy….

May 21, 2008

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Now that all has been said and done, that Ted was the only Kennedy brother who lived to be a senior citizen is a testament to how truly blessed he was.

Farewell Teddy

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