He passed the torch
Ted Kennedy has brain cancer
He passed the torch
"It is time again for a new generation of leadership."
-- Sen. Ted Kennedy, Jan 28, 2008.
As you may have heard, doctors announced this afternoon that Sen. Ted Kennedy -- who'd been rushed to the hospital on Saturday with a seizure -- is suffering from malignant brain cancer. He will undergo radiation and chemotherapy, and -- in a modern world where a fellow Bostonian can recover from cancer to throw a no-hitter -- we optimistically pray for a full recovery. God knows the Kennedys have been a controversial force in a most divisive half-century of life in this country, but today all Americans are united in wishing for his return to good health, and an acknowledging that he has been a giant figure in our politics, the "last lion" as his GOP friend John McCain just called him.
He would never be president -- his personal foibles far too great, and the shadow cast by his slain brothers far too deep, But despite personal scandal and family tragedy, and you can see his impact on America every time a wheelchair-bound person rolls into your public library (he co-sponsored the Americans with Disabilities Act) and every time a black person casts a vote in the Deep South (he helped shape the Voting Rights Act of 1965).
Even if you don't support Barack Obama, it was telling that Kennedy -- given one last chance to walk away and take the easy way out -- took the risk of endorsing the Illinois senator, despite a long association with the Clintons. He did it because he thought it was the right thing to do, saying that "we want a president who appeals to the hopes of those who still believe in the American dream."
That was his way of passing the torch to a new generation -- from a flawed but hardworking lifelong public servant, and if it proves to be his last act on the public stage, it was a fitting one.
Comment removed.
Sen. Obama, the church you attend, according to its Web site, pursues an Afrocentric agenda. Your church rejects, as part of their "black value system," middle classness as "classic methodology" of white "captors" to "control . . . subjugated" black "captives." Your religious mentor , Jeremiah Wright, recently called the Nation of Islam's Minister Louis Farrakhan — a man many consider anti-Semitic — a person of "integrity and honesty." What would happen to a Republican candidate who attended a Caucasian-centric church and who praised David Duke as a man of "integrity and honesty"?— mookie- "You never heard of Dixiecrats?" by SteveMG ------------------------------------------------------------------- History reveals that it was Democratic Attorney General, Robert Kennedy that approved the secret wire taps on Dr, Martin Luther King Jr., and it was Democratic President Lyndon Johnson that referred to Dr. King as " that n*gger preacher." Senator Byrd referred to Dr. King as a "trouble maker" who causes trouble and then runs like a "coward," when trouble breaks out.— mookie
- "You never heard of Dixiecrats?"--------------------- SteveMG ---------------------------------------------------------------------Democrat opposition to the Civil Rights Movement---------Robert Byrd, current senator from West Virginia - J. William Fulbright, Arkansas senator and political mentor of Bill Clinton - Albert Gore Sr., Tennessee senator, father and political mentor of Al Gore. Gore Jr. has been known to lie about his father's opposition to the Civil Rights Act. - Sam Ervin, North Carolina senator of Watergate hearings fame - Richard Russell, famed Georgia senator and later President Pro Tempore The complete list of the 21 Democrats who opposed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 includes Senators: - Hill and Sparkman of Alabama - Fulbright and McClellan of Arkansas - Holland and Smathers of Florida - Russell and Talmadge of Georgia - Ellender and Long of Louisiana - Eastland and Stennis of Mississippi - Ervin and Jordan of North Carolina - Johnston and Thurmond of South Carolina - Gore Sr. and Walters of Tennessee - H. Byrd and Robertson of Virginia - R. Byrd of West Virginia— mookie
mookie, you're absolutely correct. I can only hope that the recent democrat racist hijinks during this primary season will wake up America.— ocjones- Yes, mookie is absolutely correct about the 45 year-old political positions of the 21 Democrats listed, of which all but one are retired or dead. Very relevant info, thanks much!— Politburo
- A cousin of mine died screaming in pain from a brain tumor at age 40. I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy. I offer condonlences to the Kennedy clan and scorn to those who cannot refrain from bile for a day at this news.— db_cooper
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