Wednesday, August 26, 2009

RIP Teddy Kennedy

I'm quite a critic of much American policy, and no politician is perfect. I think Teddy Kennedy knew that all too well. Yet he was a brave and passionate campaigner for many causes which were not popular, he always throughout his career spoke out for minority rights, and was well aware of the deficiencies of American health care.

Lets hope his memory can be kept with some progress on health provision in the US, something he always worked tirelessly for

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hear Hear

poppy tupper said...

He was a bully, a drunk, a man who left a young woman to suffocate in the air lock of a submerged car while he ran away, a cheat, who was expelled from Harvard, a philanderer and a fund-raiser to pay for weapons to murder innocent people in Northern Ireland and the mainland.

Merseymike said...

Yes, you could say all of those things about his personal life - but balance that with the huge public impact the many things he worked for and changed. Northern Ireland being a good example as far as this country is concerned - it took people respected by Republicans to bring them to the table.

We shouldn't expect politicians to be saints. We should expect them, irrespective of their personal lives, to do the best they can in their public role, in their job. And Kennedy did that a hundred times over

Göran Koch-Swahne said...

I agree with Merseymike. Great errors coupled with great virtues.

And not least a life of service to his country.

Brad Evans said...

And let's hope Mary Jo Kopechne is waiting for him on the other side.
It's as true today as it was 50 years ago; had his last name been "Moore", nobody would ever have heard of him.
I don't expect sainthood. I couldn't care less that he was out with a woman not his wife and that he drank a lot. He abandoned a woman in the back of his car and didn't tell anybody she was dying.
He got off because of his name.
Had a Republican/conservative done this, everyone would have (deservedly)called for his head on a platter.
One of the basic building blocks of morality is consistency. One law for all.

Merseymike said...

But we know that, Brad. Doesn't obliterate the many good things he did. People aren't perfect. Christians do constantly remind us, don't they?