Friends, Romans, Countrymen... Not

So I sat through all the unfamiliar ceremony, the maudlin commentary, and the endless repetitions of the speech at the 1980 Democratic Convention, waiting for President Obama to take the body in his arms and tell the nation how this death sets the scene for a renewed commitment to heroic politics. But, nothing.

What might President Obama have said?

"We gather here today to honor the life of Edward Kennedy, the blessedly long-lived and uniquely inspiring American leader. Although we meet in his beloved Boston, he was, to borrow a phrase, America's Senator. There is never a good time to lose a Ted Kennedy. But this is a uniquely painful moment indeed.

"Like all Americans, I have witnessed in the last month scenes of our fellow citizens proclaiming their indifference to the suffering of others. As one demonstrator's sign said recently, 'Drop Dead. I Won't Pay for Your Health Care.' Another told the New York Times that in America the safety net must not catch too many people. As we lay to rest this long-lived servant of the American nation, let us take a moment to remember that his story is an evergreen reminder of another way for Americans to live. We loved then and weep now for Edward Kennedy because he cared for others - his family, his brothers' families, his state, the racial minorities, the victims of 9/11, the mentally ill ... and the physically ill, especially the ones who, without our love, will, indeed, fall through the safety net, many to their death.

"Like Ted Kennedy, and unlike the vision of lonely, selfish souls the protests invoke, Kennedy's life reminds us that we are not alone. He was not born alone; Rose Kennedy, his devoted mother, whose life played out here in this city of America's founding, bore him. His parents and, especially since he was the youngest, his sisters and brothers, raised him, a vital early safety net without which neither he nor any American could survive. The family, and the traditions of this noble state, Massachusetts, taught him the values of public service and community that are the touchstones of his legacy. When the time came for his family to enter into the public service for which they had been raised, they did not think their social obligation ended when they dropped a casserole at the house of a neighbor. They looked to our great nation, the United States of America, as the place where the most meaningful and effective efforts might be directed. They ran for Congress, for the Senate, for the Presidency, for good or ill. In those contests for public service and in the service that they rendered, Ted the most, of course, because he had the gift of time, they did everything in their power to manifest the collective possibilities inherent in the American dream -- for John Kennedy that we could start a corps for peace, for Robert that poverty and racism could be resisted and in the end defeated, for Teddy that the justice system could live up to its name and that the sick could be healed.

"Taken together, the legacy of all the Kennedy brothers is an old one, but one that bears remembering as strident voices demand we forget our communal ties. They believed, and I believe, that we are a community, not just any community but, as Ted Kennedy believed, in the centuries-old tradition of Puritan Massachusetts -- a chosen people, that America is a city on a hill, a beacon for all humanity. Let us take this sacred moment of his funeral to reconsecrate ourselves to that ideal."

Comments

[skippypicasso]

Wow, after careful consideration of the words and implications, I have decided I liked the President's a lot better.

While I'm looking forward to the President laying out his health care principles and explaining exactly where he stands to the American people--since he hasn't actually done that yet--I can think of better times and places than at EMK's funeral. I'll settle for this morning on the White House lawn, or later today at a burger stop.

[Joe The Nerd Ferraro - Huffpost Blogger]

I don't understand why you would want to put words in the President's mouth. If he had said those things it would have been highly insulting to the Kennedys. They are Catholic. Mass was said in a Catholic Church. Bringing up Puritanism in that setting is like praising Islam in a synagogue. Teddy's grandfather was the first Catholic mayor of Boston. The Puritans were against them from day one.

No where do you mention his Catholic faith. The Gospel reading during the funeral should have been a pointed stick in the eyes of the conservative Christians sitting in the pews.

[jessicajuliette]

i WISH HE HAD SAID THIS ! he was a politician--that is what was dear to kennedy's heart, this would have been much more moving and inspiring, i agree with the poster who said obama seemed flat and the eulogy disappoining..
i agree, obama dropped the ball on this one, it wasnt bad, but it wasnt great either...
lastly a eulogy is about the person one is eulogizing, he wasnt an avon lady or a figure skater or some such, he was a politican, the political references would have been fine..

[SimJack]

Yes, why don't you FedEx that off to the Kennedy family and let them know they could have done better.

[BMS]

Thank god President Obama gave the eulogy and not you. Not every moment is the time to make political points. He was speaking to a grieving family and a grieving nation, and the suggestion that he should have taken that opportunity to engage in partisan politics shows a real lack of understanding and compassion. His eulogy was a beautiful tribute to a friend, father, husband, grandfather, uncle, and public servant extraordinaire.

I thought having the grandchildren take up the mantle in the way they did, as prayers, was a brilliant move.

If the President had engaged in politics the right would have a field day with it. I have avoided listening to or reading anything the right is saying, and for all I know they may be having a field day anyway. But I'd sure like to see them attack a bunch of innocent children who are grieving their grandfather. That will just send more centrists and independents over to our side.

[TheStreamAlwaysWins]

The President of the United States gave a eulogy that was quite befitting the office. He praised the man and his life. It would have been highly inappropriate to divide the country along partisian lines, to grind his oponents into the ground by using Kennedy as the stick.
The grandchildren did a wonderful task of focusing on the need for America to change. That was enough.
The Pres. speech was appropriate, well modulated and enough.
The more I see these opinions which lack deep strategic thinking, the more I am convinced that Obama is a real smart strategist.

[ladyoftheisland]

I thought it was near perfect, President Obama wove into a beautiful eulogy
"a time when adversaries still saw each other as patriots" which couldn't have been more pointed, perhaps too subtle for the Rush crowd but they are not the whole of the GOP, and grandchildren knocked it out of the park. It's going to be interesting to hear how hate radio deals with the grandchildren.

[VagabondSaint]

I was with you right up until you said "a chosen people." That kind of thinking, that we are somehow inherently better than everyone else by virtue of the whim of a God that, exist or not, not everyone believes in, led to the slaughter of Native Americans, the enslavement of Irish, Africans, and Asians, lynchings, and numerous other atrocities in just this country's history, never mind the rest of the world. Trying to tell others that we're the chosen people just puts up an arrogant wall between them and us.

If we are truly to be a beacon and example to all humanity in this country, then we should choose and work to be such - not just assume that we have been made such. The assumption that we deserve a position of leadership among humankind merely because we say a deity chose us just makes us look like we have an inflated sense of entitlement, not to mention a massive ego, on the world stage.

I'm not hating on religion here, but that "chosen people" stance has done far more damage throughout history than any other single idea. Time to let it die.

Didn't mean to rant. . .

[GunneraGirl]

nice post.

[GYRainforest]

I thought the President's speech was flat. It seem devoid of emotion. I was disappointed.

[YankeeCanuck]

I cannot imagine Obama giving a speech like that at the funeral of Ted Kennedy.
Don't get me wrong, it's perfectly nice speech--but entirely inappropriate for that occasion.
And presumptive in the extreme to suggest such a thing.

[mama4obama]

What you are saying is just so totally inappropriate for this occasion. The President gave a beautiful eulogy for his friend. It moved me yo tears just as the eulogy of Teddy , Jr. did. President Obama looked so profoundly sad at the loss of his friend and Sen. Kennedy' s death so soon after the loss of his grandmother to cancer must really hurt.

[ncmom54]

I was glad Obama gave the eulogy as he did... very respectful of Kennedy's life and work.
had he done it any other way the GOP would have had a grand old time with it.
yet who can criticize the children, speaking the petitions of their patriarch as prayers with
everyone attending joining in with 'Lord hear our prayer'...
I thought it was brilliant.

[TheStreamAlwaysWins]

Absolutely brilliant, it was. I cried at both the beauty of the moment and the smart political play.
No one could sit out, "Lord, hear our prayer". First class.

[KofTX]

This article totally misses the point of a President of the United States giving a eulogy. THIS MOMENT WAS TOO SIGNIFICANT TO BE A CAMPAIGN OPPORTUNITY. The country has lost a great senator and proponent of healthcare but the Kennedy's have lost their patriarch. He was a husband, father, grandfather and uncle before he was a U.S. senator.

[dadw5boys]

You can only tell if your life truely had meaning by the number of people who show up to say farewell .

Teddy's life had true meaning.

Samuel Clements said : " Strive to live your life in such a manner that upon your passing even the Undertaker will cry . "
I agree Sam.

[konybvg]

Go run for Presidency next time so that you can say all these things in the next burial or apply as a speech writer for president Obama so you can write the next State of The Union Address. Nut Job!