The Death of Ted Kennedy: HuffPost Bloggers React

Sen. Robert Byrd: Ted Kennedy, My Friend and Colleague:

Neither years of age nor years of political combat, nor his illness, diminished the idealism and energy of this talented, imaginative, and intelligent man. And that is the kind of Senator Ted Kennedy was. Throughout his career, Senator Kennedy believed in a simple premise: that our society's greatness lies in its ability and willingness to provide for its less fortunate members. READ MORE

Sen. Harry Reid: Our Lost Patriarch:

Senator Kennedy's legacy stands with the greatest, the most devoted, the most patriotic men and women to ever serve in the halls of government. Because of Ted Kennedy, more young children could afford to become healthy. More young adults could afford to become students. More of our oldest citizens and our poorest citizens could get the care they need to live longer, fuller lives. More minorities, women and immigrants could realize the rights our founding documents promised them. And more Americans could be proud of their country. READ MORE

Mike Lux: The Greatest Senator in American History:

There were other Senators who served a very long time and have many notable achievements to their credit. There were others whose oratory and personality dominated the Senate chamber for awhile. There were others who were held in great esteem by their Senate colleagues. There were others who became a recognizable face as a representative of Senate traditions and honor. But no one in all of America's great history combined all of these things with getting more tangible things that mattered accomplished for the American people. READ MORE

William Bradley: Camelot Ends, Again: The Passing of Senator Ted Kennedy:

Camelot has ended, again. But as Ted Kennedy himself pointed out, the legend is ever renewable. "The hope rises again, and the dream lives on." For it is not about "a time of life but a state of mind, a temper of the will, a quality of imagination, a predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease." Though a most imperfect man, Ted Kennedy made his choice over a life of ease, and America is much the better for it. READ MORE

Robert Creamer: Greatest Tribute to Kennedy: Pass Health Care for All:

The decision facing America is whether - at long last - we will inscribe into our law the principle that health care is a human right - that everyone among us deserves health care simply because we are all human beings. Ted Kennedy believed that to his core. It was his life's passion. It would be fitting if his passing itself served to refocus the health care debate on the moral principle that lies at its center. READ MORE

Robert L. Borosage: A Giant Lost:

We have lost a giant. The Senate is a smaller place today -- a special measure of joy, political passion, irrepressible energy has been lost. Edward Kennedy's words, delivered as his 1980 presidential campaign came to an end at the Democratic Convention in Madison Square Garden, should be played repeatedly in his memorials, for they provide the charge that he has left for us. READ MORE

Robert Reich: Ted Kennedy's Passing: An Inestimable Loss:

America has had a few precious individuals who are both passionate about social justice and also understand deep in their bones its practical meaning. And we have had a few who possess great political shrewdness and can make the clunky machinery of democratic governance actually work. But I have known but one person who combined all these traits and abilities. READ MORE

Robert Scheer: Remembering the Real Deal:

I haven't felt quite so sad about the passing of a political leader since the day when people started bawling all over the Bronx with the news that FDR had died. In a political world dominated by bipartisan cynicism, there are few touchstones of integrity for the common folk, and Kennedy was one of them. READ MORE

Steve Clemons: Mourning for Ted Kennedy:

Senator Kennedy's political franchise had no rival in the legislative branch of government, and the younger brother of the Kennedy political trio may very well have been the very best "Executive Legislator" this country has ever seen. READ MORE

David Wild: A Dream Goes On Forever: A Playlist for Senator Ted Kennedy:

Senator Ted Kennedy loved to sing. And so it seems only fitting to make a playlist in memory of this singular American icon who did so much for so long to help so many. May he rest in peace, and may all the men and woman elected to be our leaders in Congress actually honor his memory by fulfilling Senator Kennedy's longstanding dream of true health care reform in this country that he loved even more than he loved singing. READ MORE

Fortune's Stanley Bing: Ted Kennedy: My Little Memory of Big Guy:

Some politicians are admired by pundits. Others feast on the support of the quiet, suburban bourgeoisie. Some wave one banner or other and attract a crowd for a time. What I saw on that little cruise in 1992 cannot be bought by advertising, or spun into life by pollsters or consultants. It's the enthusiasm regular, working people feel for someone they know has their interests at heart, and has for a long time, someone who has had his own troubles, overcome some if not all of them, and can still hold a drink when he has to. READ MORE

Jennifer Donahue: Young People: Carry on Kennedy's Torch of Caring for Those with Less:

The message is this: we are one country. We are in this together. If you don't have health care and I do, we will both pay for it in the end. We are not Democrats or Republicans, we are Americans. The reason to do something meaningful is to help society and not look first at your own self-interest. This philosophy was embodied by Ted Kennedy, and we will wait for a leader to step up to the plate and lead the way he did. READ MORE

Allison Kilkenny: Ted Kennedy: Health Care Reform Is the "Cause of My Life":

Many politicians (especially Democrats) will claim today to have respected Kennedy, but if they want to really pay tribute to the man, they should stop watering down health care reform. Democrats should end this silly debate over insurance co-operatives and securing 80 votes in the Senate (instead of the 51 they actually need,) and just get Americans affordable health care right now. It's what Ted would have wanted. After all, it was the cause of his life. READ MORE

John Bohrer: Ted Kennedy's Summer in Exile:

As Ted Kennedy disappeared from the public eye this summer, I liked to think of him as thirty-two years old, strapped to an orthopedic bed in Boston, waiting for his back to heal. It was the summer of 1964 -- forty-five years ago now -- when his plane crashed and he badly broke his back. No surgery, they decided. He'd have to be laid up for half a year, practically in a full-body brace. He took that time to reeducate himself, to read and think about subjects he hadn't paid enough attention to in school. It was now his duty to be ready. READ MORE

Jayne Lyn Stahl: No Time for Mourning -- In Memoriam: Ted Kennedy:

He was blessed in having made his life one that was filled not merely with courage, but purpose; one not scarred by contempt or anger, but enriched by compassion. He was a man who sought to discard darkness by embracing the light that comes only from diversity. READ MORE

Christine Pelosi: Kennedy: Mourning The Loss of an Icon:

A few years ago I was at the Capitol for a Kennedy Center honorees reception and saw the senator in a quiet corridor off Statuary Hall. "I love to walk through here and see the great statues and pictures of our Founders" he said. "It always gives me a thrill to be here and think of all they did." It was striking that after all the years and all his accomplishments at the Capitol, Ted Kennedy was still awed by being there. READ MORE

 

Comments

[DesertDogAlpha]

Want to read about a great American (admittedly no Ted Kennedy or Micheal Jackson but perhaps the best we have to offer...). Then read this.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/29/AR2009082902014.html


There will be no all star celebration and no scandals reported and People magazine will never let you know it happened. And his gravesite won't be a tourist site.

[MaDmOnKy]

great article ty for bring that to our attention, Matt Freeman wa a real hero, here is another guy forgotten by history..

http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/egcobeil.htm

[MaDmOnKy]

Video of a former KGB agent that took Ted Kennedy on a tour in Moscow.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmC6Eo-v5CI&NR=1

[fredwenn]

GET REAL..... I've been quiet out of respect for the dead.... but anybody who spent that much time in the US Senate is dirty..... a Player..... who knew where the bodies were buried.... which is why he was effective.

Come on ..... why are we being willfully stupid about the record???

That club is dying of internal ROT.... and anybody who spent his life there was less than savory.

I'll leave it at that.

[Mike Nna]

Gone is a legend in Senator Edward Kennedy, Gone is a LEGENDARY SOLDIER for the POOR. It is like yesterday you was full of vibrant and hope for the less fortunate and now you were gone with the heavenly wind to answer GOD'S call because you have accomplished his works thru you in this earth. Your stay in this earth is full of memoirs and these memoirs are MARKS of our life in the century and future ones. We would always recall our blessings for your brief stay with us. I know you are there in Heaven and still fight for us, the less fortunate. I know because you have taken this fight from earth to heaven for Devine intervention because you are tireless. This is cause for joy because your Cause will prevail.
Adieu! Adieu!! Adieu. WHAT A LEGEND, AN UNDEFEATABLE GENERAL WHO KNOWS HOW TO WIN BATTLES AND WARS.

[WildBill]

I want to thank the good people of Massachusetts for sending such a good and gracious man to the Senate. All our lives are the better because of his great legislative accomplishments. Also, Sen. Kennedy did something which largely went unnoticed except for a small handful of people involved who knew he did this: while healthy he attended every funeral of a fallen Massachusetts military person who died as a result of their service in either Iraq or Afghanistan and he did so with no fanfare. Thank you, Ted, for all you did and thank you Mass.

[fredwenn]

The corrupt system makes it impossible for the Good People of Mass to do anything BUT send these guys back...

the whole system is based on seniority... and if you bring home the bacon.... you go back and back and back.... until you no longer resemble your press.

I thought Huffers were more sophisticated than this.

I understand respect for the newly departed..... but NO - this was no saint.

This was a seasoned PLAYER>..... doing the dirty - to keep the seat.

[KimberlyKay]

The hallowed words of President Lincoln come to mind when contemplating this loss to my Country--

He gave "the last full measure of devotion" to his Country-- not like his three brothers or the boys at Gettysburg who spilled their life blood for their Country; but, by spending almost every waking hour dedicated to perfecting our Union.

God bless you Senator Kennedy, may you rest in peace.

[biglith]

Truly one of the good guys.

[bushlies]

The USA is poorer today for the loss of this great Senator and patriot. Ted, you will be sorely missed by all of us.

[Phxflyer]

"For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives and the dream shall never die." -- Ted Kennedy

May the Lion rest in peace.

[ManUtd]

HuffPost's Pick

As a republican, I didn't agree with many of his positions, but I admired his ability to get things done. He was definitely a statesman and the Senate could use a few more like him on both sides of the aisle. Definitely a loss for the country.

[smithr17]

The Republicans will feel nothing. They are claiming that we are exploiting his memory by using it for Health Care even though that is exactly what he would want.

[KimberlyKay]

Please read the post above your own. Most Americans feel Senator Kennedy's loss keenly regardless of political affiliation, or what their opinion is of America's need to reform our health care system.

Another legacy of Senator Ted Kennedy-- arguing his position vigorously, but with respect.

[noralou]

Ted Kennedy was the best and most liberal of all the Kennedy brothers. Although raised in wealth and privilege, he never stopped fighting for those who had little to nothing. He was brought up in the spirit of noblesse oblige, wherein people who have much should help those who do not. He was a great man and I will miss him.

[kassandrasduplex]

And now we will see the worst as the monied interests use this sad event to try and line their pockets with a so-called healthcare "reform" more accurately called the Health Insurance Giveaway of 2009.

[PR one]

Just heard Sen Max Baucus say to Andrea Mitchell that senator Kennedy would have compromised on health reform. I know that our beloved senator would had never compromised something for nothing.

[Hollywooddeed]

I'm in Ireland and seeing people crying everywhere I go.

[Phxflyer]

As a native, I am not surprised.