Ted Kennedy, good riddance
August 29, 2009 – 6:41 am by JohnThe more gracious sensibilities inside me prevent me from ranting and raving about what a terrible scourge on humanity Edward Kennedy was, but he really was a terrible senator. I detest the common notion that we should focus only on the recently deceased’s good qualities or only say kind things about them for a while. On the contrary, the time of their passing is the best time to reflect on all their good and bad deeds to put their entire life in perspective. If he wanted only nice things said about him, he shouldn’t have done terrible things.
When I say Teddy Kennedy was a terrible senator, obviously what makes him so harmful in my mind is what made him a great senator in the minds of so many Statists. He did support liberalization of immigration laws, he didn’t seem to be an outrageous drug warrior, he seemed to oppose the death penalty in principle, he seemed to oppose some military interventionism, and he voted against attacking Iraq and further funding the war at at least one point. So I will commend him for all of that right here.
The problem with Kennedy, as with a great many senators and congresshumans, is that so many of his stances were so entirely political, not principled. For instance, he supported the murderous military adventures of a president who wrote a (D) after his name but not one who wrote an (R) after his name. I have the impression that he supported just about anything the big-government Democrats did and opposed anything with a Republican stench to it; that he loved big government for the power and prestige it gave him, his family, and their cronies, and not, originally, because he really felt it could help the poor or protect the innocent. He probably convinced himself of the latter in time, but so do most people who live a life of power and privilege at the expense of the innocent taxpayers.
Some people who have no conception of civics and government refer to Ted Kennedy as a “civil servant.” What a load of obsequious crap. He was born into extreme wealth, he never had to work a real job in his life, he lived off of stolen funds his entire career, and his work consisted of taking from some to give to others while keeping a large portion of the loot for the professional criminal class. The taxpayers served him, many of them unwillingly.
Kennedy had the reputation for being a great advocate of civil liberties, but he fervently fought against and helped weaken our most important civil liberty after free speech: gun ownership and use. This was his proudest stance, his most noble crusade, the object of as much adulation by Statist cheerleaders as anything else he did. Additionally, his neo-liberal attitude that society should be dominated by racial statistics and race-awareness is clearly an attitude that has retarded our progress in racial harmony over the last few decades as much as any residual racism or bigotry has. He was a collectivist through and through, an ideology entirely incompatible with individual rights of any kind.
Some of my friends who are incapable of seeing past the (D) that appeared after Ted Kennedy’s name scorned cable news networks for their presumed fixation on Kennedy’s murder of Mary Jo Kopechne. “Let me guess: it was all Chappaquiddick, all the time,” one said disdainfully. Well, did he kill her, or didn’t he? Did he try to save his political career, or try to save her? Should he have spent the last 40 years in prison, or shouldn’t he?
Suggesting that news programs should not focus on Ted Kennedy’s heartless and remorseless murder of Mary Jo Kopechne would be like suggesting that they discuss O.J. Simpson’s life and times without giving much attention to his murders of Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman.
After leaving someone to drown in your car and being solely responsible for her death, everything else you did in your life pales in comparison to that hideous act! O.J. Simpson’s irrelevant achievements on the football field (and tireless search for the real killers) don’t make up for his two murders in anyone’s mind. Mark David Chapman’s supposed religious conversion doesn’t make up for his murder of John Lennon in very many people’s minds. And Ted Kennedy’s dubious achievements as a “civil servant” don’t make up for his murder of Mary Jo Kopechne! Besides, he was a detriment to society in the Senate. It is indicative of our society’s backwardness that people regard his accomplishments in the Senate as a saving grace for his personal failings; they should be thought of as adding insult to injury!
I’ve largely grown out of the primitive attitude that revels in people’s deaths. Except in the more monstrous cases (like child molesters and people who talk at the theater), I will be content with my hatred of what the person did and everything he stood for without wishing for his death and celebrating it when it comes. I’ll just celebrate his absence from the Senate. I’m glad he is no longer a senator, that is all.
4 Responses to “Ted Kennedy, good riddance”
excellent post.
By jim on Aug 29, 2009
I just learned on ESPN’s college football podcast that Ted and Bobby were both starters for Harvard (Ted played offensive and defensive end) back in the fifties when the Ivy League was good. So there’s that aspect I can admire, at least. The rest was a career in organized crime, as far as I’m concerned.
By Rmangum on Aug 30, 2009
May he join Jesse Helms in hell.
By Mike Gogulski on Aug 30, 2009
I wouldn’t go so far as to say he murdered Mary Jo, but he certainly was responsible for her death and behaved in an incredibly selfish and cowardly way when she could potentially could have lived. But beyond what really amounts to a difference of degrees, I couldn’t agree with you more. I think it is rather pathetic the level of fake veneration that is heaped on anyone that dies these days.
By Kelly W. Patterson on Aug 31, 2009