But ya know what, at the risk of ridicule around here at least, I’ll share that I watch how President Barack Hussein Obama carries himself and how he handles conflict, and try to emulate it. I’m beginning to understand the value in how he handles things, even though it often goes against my instincts, and most importantly how effective it can be. Guess that’s part of what being a leader is about, isn’t it?

Please chime in more often by the way!

Yes, I’ll miss Teddy. He was my senator for over 20 years and as I said earlier I didn’t have to worry about how he would vote. All he got from me was thanks. For the next week we will hear nothing but praises of him from both sides and then the “war” will resume, kind of like the CHristmas Truce of 1914.

Teddy saw hope—or at least talked it up wherever he could and God knows his life had been full of tragedy. He made some colossal blunders of his own and worked every day to make up for them and exceeded everyone’s expectations.

What’s really sad is that here was a man who had everything he needed and could have gone off and live his life in private. Certainly he could have been given that slack with all the public loss he endured. Yet he fought every day for the people who had needs. He was always there for the rest of us. I wish I could see that quality in the rest of the Senate and House, the people we elected to lead us. We may have some hope with Franken. He vowed to take up Wellstone’s mantle. Time will tell. And we have Bernie Sanders. Just about everyone else is AWOL. That, to me is what is sad.

Unlike many, Ted Kennedy chose to grow beyond as many of his failings as he could. Who among us can dare say that he failed? Indeed it is his legacy that he served as example; he sought the path of personal growth, of service to others, and of abiding responsibility.

Like all of us Kennedy knew he was a mortal being.

Unlike many, he prepared himself and the rest of us, if we cared to listen, for the end … he had the practice of being the one who was left; the one who had to go on, carrying not only his own grief but the weight of knowing that an ever greater burden of increasing compassion for and encouragement of others, millions of others, was tasked to him, and because of who he was, to him alone. This was not a choice he sought, but one that events and the violence of others thrust upon him.

I am not one overly smitten by the Kennedy mystique, but this was a man.

A man among men and women.

A man among cowards and the pathetically self-serving.

In the end, his thoughts were not about himself, but true to his being, his thoughts were about others.

DW

People are talking about about the Kennedy legacy, but perhaps some context would be useful as we move ahead in trying to get more legislation passed.

Senator Joseph McCarthy was a friend of the Kennedy family: Joseph Kennedy, Sr. was a leading McCarthy supporter; Robert F. Kennedy worked for McCarthy’s subcommittee, and McCarthy dated Patricia Kennedy.

JFK did a lot of kabuki to help out McCarthy.

Vietnam.

Responding to allegations that Martin Luther King, Jr. was a communist, the Kennedy’s administration agreed to let the Federal Bureau of Investigation wiretap private individuals, including Martin Luther King, Jr

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In 1963, the Kennedy administration backed a coup against the government of Iraq headed by General Abdel Karim Kassem, who five years earlier had deposed the Western-allied Iraqi monarchy. The CIA helped the new Baath Party government led by Abdul Salam Arif in ridding the country of suspected leftists and Communists. In a Baathist bloodbath, the government used lists of suspected Communists and other leftists provided by the CIA, to systematically murder untold numbers of Iraq’s educated elite — killings in which Saddam Hussein himself is said to have participated.

And so on…similar things be found about RFK and Teddy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_F._Kennedy

Point is…I think the Kennedys have been extremely positive for America as a whole and for Liberalism in general. I’m glad they’ve had such an influence on American policy and on the public discourse. If the current dominant attitudes and functions of the Liberal blogs existed back in 1960, I’m not sure there would even be a Kennedy Legacy. Most here would be having a field day with the imperfect Kennedys.

Perhaps some of this history can inform some around here about what’s the best use of our time and energy. Seems like Teddy was quite happy with what’s been happening this year, and very hopeful for the opportunities we now have before us. Are you?