From The Barnstable Patriot:
U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy died Aug. 25 where he loved to be, by the shores of Nantucket Sound in Hyannis Port.
At 77, he spent his last year fighting for health care reform while battling a brain tumor. On Saturday, he will be laid to rest next to his brothers John and Robert in Arlington National Cemetery.
Throughout the day, visitors gathered at the John F. Kennedy Hyannis Museum on Main Street to remember and learn about the man who had represented Massachusetts in the Senate since 1962. The museum meant a great deal to Ted Kennedy, according to Lynne Poyant, the town’s community services director.
“The thing about the museum for Senator Kennedy was that it was about the Cape years, about family,” she said. “I think that’s one of the reasons he loved it so much, because family was so important to him.”
Poyant recalled standing with Victoria Reggie Kennedy, the senator’s wife, in front of the museum’s family tree wall. “You will see, in Ted’s generation, the fathers who passed at a young age when their kids were relatively young,” Poyant said. “You will see how many kids he was a patriarch to. Mrs. Kennedy told me that Senator Kennedy made it a point of personally sending notes and birthday cards to all of these kids to mark special occasions.”
That level of attention extended beyond the Kennedy clan, even beyond the senator’s political allies.
State Rep. Jeff Perry, a Republican from Sandwich, said the “only number in our Rolodex” to contact in Washington for help with constituent’s concerns is the senator’s office.
…snip…
Raised a Democrat, Perry joined the GOP during the Reagan revolution of 1980. He was touched in 2005 when Kennedy sent him a Congressional compilation of President Reagan’s years in office, complete with a personal note from the senator.
“I don’t make it a secret that Ronald Reagan is my political hero,” Perry said. “Somehow, somewhere in conversation with him or his staff, [they knew] this thing that happened in Congress would be important to me.”
To state Rep. Matt Patrick, the Falmouth Democrat, Kennedy “was the consummate lawmaker. He was known for reaching across the aisle.”
…snip…
[…] Patrick cherishes the memory of [an] opportunity, which came about when he accompanied his mother to a political meeting with several senators in Washington. He was 25 and bound for the Peace Corps.
A snowstorm delayed everyone except Patrick and his mother and the senator, so they had Kennedy to themselves for about 15 minutes. Kennedy focused on the young man’s preparation for service, questioning him intensely.
“As Joe Biden said, it was never about him,” said Town Manager John Klimm. “He was very generous with his time. When I was state rep, he hosted several fundraisers for me.”
…snip…
“He had no pretense at all,” state Sen. Rob O’Leary said. “He reached out to you and treated everyone regardless of rank in the political pecking order with genuine affection.”
O’Leary, a history professor, said Kennedy “will be remembered as one of the great senators of the last 50 years. He was a force in national politics for so long and involved in so many issues. He made so many things happen.”
In a press statement, U.S. Rep. Bill Delahunt called Kennedy “the greatest and hardest working senator of our time… a beacon of hope to those less fortunate, making a difference in the lives of millions of Americans. He was a passionate fighter for justice, health care, a minimum wage and a decent quality of life for all. His fingerprints can be found on virtually every major domestic initiative enacted into law during his tenure in Congress.”
State Senate President Therese Murray, in her statement, said Kennedy “assembled an agenda that addressed the needs of the common man and the most vulnerable of our citizens.”
O’Leary called Kennedy “a little prescient” in his opposition to the war in Iraq, but added that Kennedy “felt a little betrayed” on the education reform compromise he struck. He recalled how Kennedy helped preserve the Massachusetts Service Alliance, the state version of AmeriCorps.
…snip…
If Kennedy will be missed in Washington, that goes double for Hyannis.
“For many years,” recalled Hyannis Fire Department Chief Harold Brunelle, “every year just before Christmas, he used to do a function at the Kennedy rink for underprivileged children, a big skating session. Then they’d go next door to the elementary school and have Santa Claus come in, and a big turkey dinner, and presents.
“He was a great senator, a great neighbor, and a great friend. We’re gonna miss him deeply.”
HYSTERICAL RAISINS 
It is funny how when a liberal dies liberals suddenly elevate them to Sainthood, no matter what they did wrong or how bad it was. I seem to remember all the ugly, nasty things liberals said about Jesse Helms when he died and, rather than a murderer, he was just a bigot. Teddy was an elitist who got rich off those he claimed to champion, but in the end, all his wealth could not save his own life. Time is money, but money could not buy even Teddy any more time.
take it somewhere else. i’m removing your link.
What is it about neocons that they don’t have an ounce of class, preferring to slam someone when it’s quite obvious that the blogger appreciates said person.
I got plenty of those jackasses to my Kennedy posts today..and I banned every single one of them. If they can’t show a little class when someone dies..why say anything?
Because they are lovers of hate. Or they enjoy just being jerkwads I guess. I would never dream of showing up on a neocon’s blog and ripping someone they appreciated who had recently died.
Good graphic Nonnie and I like your writeup as well. Thanks chica for taking the time to do this post. 😉
don’t get aggravated, dusty. just accept that there are a lot of classless people out there. they aren’t worth your time or attention.
i went through a lot of articles, but i decided to go with one that was from teddy’s hometown. all the political stuff is fine, but i like the personal stories. it’s good to remember that he was a real person, not a mythological one, and that means that others can finish the work he started.
“..and I banned every single one of them. If they can’t show a little class when someone dies..why say anything? ”
_____________________
Did you read the comments of the left when Jesse Helms died?? That was my point; liberals are hypocrites. I’d rather be a jackass.
As per usual Splash, your ilk tries to change the subject and its the grand ole tit for tat scenario.
This isn’t about Helms. And no, I did not speak ill of that homophobic bible-thumping bag o batshit when he died. Nor did I run around the internets seeking out nasty posts about him.
Does that answer your fuckwitted question you pathetic little man?
Who is seeking out nasty posts about Kennedy? I believe nonnie’s post was quite positive. I am happy to talk Kennedy. He was not the saint liberals are already painting him to be. Maybe he signed his name to all those bills in hopes that they would make up for murder when in fact, nothing can.
You and I both know that had we left anyone in the river to die and not at the very least called for help that we would be in jail and the felony charge would prevent us from serving in public office.
Kennedy’s money and his family name saved his butt when any other individual in the constituency he clainmed to serve would have been jailed and forgotten.
This may not be about Helms, but it is about misplaced respect. Helms didn’t deserve it and neither does TK. I don’t see how any of you think I liked Helms. After all, I did say he was a bigot.
TK abused the system he himself helped to create. Repect him? Just because nonnie does? Yeah … I don’t think so.
Am I not entitled to my opinion? Is this not a blog that invites comments? Have I not livened your day? Let me check … yes, this is America no matter what Liberals have done to her.
“i’m removing your link.”
________________
Just like a liberal to censor speech. I believe The Big O did the same thing to the opponents of Health Care Deformity re mailings.
Removing my link is no big deal, I get enough hits without you. Links are a courtesy bloggers share with one another. if you put your link on mine I would not remove it no matter how offensive you tried to be. However, I have come to grips with not expecting the same courtesy from a liberal.
Such is life.
And my post was hardly offensive. If the truth hurts, I can do nothing about that or for you. Maybe you should take The Big O’s advice and “take a pill” … there is no treatment for thin skin.
What a Hypocrite,speaking ill of the dead is hardly offensive?
You were making the point on how offensive it was when liberals spoke ill of your glorified racist jessie helms when he passed away…and now you seem oblivious to the fact that you were guilty of the same crime when you slandered the late Senator.
Speaking of quotes,I think it was Honest Abe who said
“Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.”
…you sir have removed all doubt about how foolish you are. go take your own pill, we dont do drugs here.
Slander???? Where? How? The truth hurts. And I did nothing to glorify Jesse Helms; he was a racist bigot … but he was not a murderer. You assumed I like Jesse Helms with your straw man argument, but cannot defend your Liberal Lyin’.
If you can … bring it on.
“Yawn” youve already established how foolish you are, tell me, when you argue with a mad man in the middle of the street how will they tell you two apart? youre not worth it man, when you actually have something sustantative to argue about call me ill answer,until then go and troll somewhere else. if you had any good upbinging you would know it was wrong to speak ill of the dead,but hey your lack of morals is not something ill have sleepless nights over….ps. liberal stopped being an insult long ago,i think the word your ilk have started using is socialist, get with the program or just give it up.
That’s it … run and hide. Nothing substantive so start to yawn and pretend you are tired. hardly 9am and you’ve already had a long day hiding from the truth about Liberalism. I gave you something substantive; TK is a murderer. Instead of a meaningful retort, which you don’t have, you resort to ad hominem attacks, which is all you do have.
Dead end, Foreigner. Dead end.
PS – Looooove your screen name though.
Wow, you’re actually thicker than i thought, you assume i live in the USA dont you, ha,i knew some trolls were usually inbred and decided to make it easier for them by using a username that would let them know i wasnt drinking any american kool aid, thus i see things in another perspective,sad it hasnt helped you discern that just because its 9am where you live its the same as everyone else…..ever heard of “different timezone” wow you seem to be the stupid gift that keeps on giving.lol…enjoy making yourself look foolish,i know im enjoying it.
Ooooo … different time zone. Nice. More ad hominem attacks and EVEN less substance. You have nothing, and thus you say nothing. None of you are having more fun than I am … that is why I’m here. Had you not jumed all over my initial comment, had your nonnie not deleted my link, you would have seen how gentile my story was on TK. I point out hypocricy; you may think that is hypocritical – a misunderstanding on your part.
Still waiting for your explanation of how a long illustrious career makes up for murder. Let me know when you make something else up. Otherwise just keep hurling names if you think it makes me look foolish — some may need you demonstration of what foolishness is to see that I am not.
Splash….you are a bumbling idiot..you come here accusing liberals of speaking bad of the dead, isnt that what you just did?…your stupidity isnt surprising..go and spout your tripe elsewhere.
hello foreigner,
welcome to the raisin! 😀
don’t waste any energy on people like splash. it will just aggravate you, and he won’t listen anyway.
“it will just aggravate you, and he won’t listen anyway.”
___________________
I will aggravate you because I am right and you are defenseless. I am listening … for something substantive …. for some reason I should respect a murderer … for some reason I should respect Senator Edward Kennedy.
If your were a blood relative to Mary Jo then you would not feel so warm and fuzzy about TK. Where is your compassion for them? How they felt? What they had to endure so that this man you call ‘good’ could remain seated in the senate?
Ahhhh yes. Just pointing out the hypocrisy of Liberals. I did not accuse; it was true. Go back and read the Jesse Helms death stories. I didn’t like the guy, but you liberals were brutal. I did complain about how you all treated his death and never censored you for feeling that way.
And I certainly didn’t call you an idiot … even if you may be a bonehead.
Nonnie, today I too had a sociopath over at my blog pissing on Teddy’s grave.
The right-wing might wonder why they are so relentlessly teased and diminished by intelligent people. Look no further than this hateful bastard Splash.
I’m glad you blocked him, but I’m also glad you let his post stand so we could tell him off.
i left his post up without the links to piss him off. i was fully prepared for the wingnuts tonight. i’m surprised there’s only been one.
Uh-huh, so now the right are PSYCHO-paths. Yes, yes …. oppose liberalism and you are unintelligent. Truth is, you censor because you cannot hold a candle to the intelligence truth holds. You run and hide, but cannot debate nor defend your cause, your beliefs or your ‘champions’. Your only weapon is to label opposition unintelligent.
You are as arrogant as dear, sweet Teddy. Was that better? Are you okay now?
I can’t imagine.. why he’d come only this far…just half way through the battle…I remember when he said he’d be here to see Obama elected and inaugurated..it was as if it were his two dear brothers dream before they beckoned him home… I saw a flag half staff today…and it really touched my soul..but not quite like this fine work you’ve done nonnie..thanks and thank you for your service dear Kennedys.
better that he came this far than for him never to have started at all. he left this life with the love of his family and his friends and the respect of many. i’m very glad he was able to see his children grow up and to see his grandchildren, something his brothers were not lucky enough to do.
nice to see you over here again, kryss.
Btw Splash, Helms was an unapologetic racist. One of his more famous quotes:
“The Negro cannot count forever on the kind of restraint that’s thus far left him free to clog the streets, disrupt traffic, and interfere with other men’s rights.”
Interfere with other men’s rights? Wtf? Every human being should have the same rights. The color of the skin doesn’t determine what type of rights someone has.
As far as Helms was concerned, he supported any regime that attempted to keep people of color down in the mud and without any rights. As one oped said about Helms:
Helms cooperated with racists and fascists who have nothing in common with the ideals of American democracy.
So he was more than an unapologetic racist, he supported murderers, which makes him part of them.
That you would use his name in the same sentence with a Kennedy shows how little you know about the man.
don’t bother, dusty. splash probably just drops his turds and then leaves, never to return. he just wanted to leave a link over here. too bad i deleted it.
Well, I hope to hell that Splash is constipated for at least two weeks Nonnie! A curse on him! 😉
no need to wish him ill, dusty. his own miserable outlook on life will take its own toll.
So are you saying my joke fell flat chica? 😆
of course not, dusty, my dear. just wasted on splash, because i doubt he’d understand. ironic to wish constipation on someone named splash, by the way! 😉
Oh touche’ Nonnie! I didn’t think of that angle. 😉
splash’s touche is at an angle? no wonder he’s constipated! 😉
LOL!! Constipation, Nice one Dusty!
Mmm mm mmMMM.
That was me pushing you all out of my ass. Do you have a laxative for me called substance? It’s cheap if your are right and impossible to find if your are left.
This is the best constipation I have ever had.
LOLer!!
“probably just drops his turds and then leaves”
_____________________
See how you underestimate me? Soon I will go to work, but I’ll be back to see if you all have any substantive defense for murder.
I never said he wasn’t. All I said was that he never left someone to die. Helms was no saint and neither was your Liberal Lion. Read my post again. You libbies jump to the conclusion that I liked Helms — he was an infection of the old DEMOCRATIC south that, aside from death, just would not go away.
The hypocrisy is that you liberals will attack a bigot, while elevating a murderer to sainthood. And you are STILL doing it right before my very eyes. read my first post again. It was hardly hateful, idiotic, psycho or any of the other baseless claims you all have hurled my way. But I accept that you resort to name calling rather than substantive debate, because you have none. If you disagree with that then give me what you’ve got.
Otherwise, censor me … it matters very little.
I have nothing to offer of my own but a moment of silence.
and sometimes, silence says more than words.
All of your silence would have been far more golden than censorship.
Nonnie, you are an opponent of FREE speech – and so is your flock. Censor that.
Splash, Free Speech is something our government guarantee’s you.
This isn’t a government website. It’s a personal website for christs sake.
Do you even know the difference? You rant on and on about censorship. If you came into my house and started trashing someone that I cared about..I sure as fuck wouldn’t sit there an listen or take it from a neocon jackass.
Now, go play with your own kind ok? Your pathetic and evidently just want to argue. Typical..so fucking typical.
Oh so very lovely … more names. The government guarantees us free speech, the rest of us respect that right. Is this not a blog? Doesn’t it invite comments? Where does it say, “Liberal Comments Only, Please?”
Is there a rule to be nice? If there is you broke it. You all don’t even have the wearwithall to see how balanced my first comment was; just ASSumed that I loved Jesse Helms.
Poor, poor liberals … just cannot handle opposition of any kind. Your utopia would be a world where no one thinks freely and everyone thinks just … like … you. Our Senate and House are a mere 60% Liberal and we are in deeper financial crap than we were with W (yep, I didn’t like him either) and about to get worse with Health Care Deformity. Can you imagine how bad things would be if our congress was 100% liberal?
Scary, scary.
Keep calling me names, it only makes my point … liberals have nothing substantive to say. Nothing.
and here I thought I had come to read a tribute to someone who just died, but unfortunately, it had to turn into a political debate.
yorkbeans –
This may come as a shock to you, but Teddy Kennedy was a politician.
Debate? What debate? I’ve been called names from the moment I posted on this lovely site. The closest I came was that one of you ‘may’ be a bonehead. Until somebody gives me something of substance then what else can I conclude?
Want a tribute? Watch TV. The Lame Stream Media will do everything in its power to make Teddy look like he was the male version of Lady Teresa. I’m sure it will make you quite happy.
Nonnie, see what happens when you allow a small-minded bully to run off at the mouth/keys— the comments all become about them.
This particular ignorant hypocrite assumes he’s not calling anyone names when he says “libbies” or “Lame Stream Media,” and that he has some kind of “truth” no one else has, and the right to pronounce Ted Kennedy a murderer, as both judge and jury. So pathetic.
The affliction of the ignorant is, they are ignorant of their ignorance. Giving dumb asses a public forum on a personal website is just as bad as someone like Rachel Maddow giving a bigot like Pat Buchannan air time; they simply don’t deserve it, don’t contribute a fucking thing, and waste everyone’s time.
Let them whine on their own dime and disappear down the shithole of their own devising. We’ll all be better served.
What Saitia said!
Ouch. Yes, forgive me for shortening your namesake to libbies … that was really mean of me … or for referring to the press as lame. Everything was sooooooo sad. Do those really stack up to, um let’s see:
neocons, jackass, jerkwad, fuckwitted, pathetic, thick, troll, impred, stupid, idiot, bumbling idiot, sociopath, wingnut and hateful bastard.
I’m sure I missed a couple and I know it hardly stacks up to libbie (which I did call you) and lame (which I did not). So I am really really sorry about hurting your feelings. I just don’t know what I was thinking. I mistook this for America where even Queen Pelosi said “there will be debate and I welcome it”.
If I object to the sanctification of a murderer then I have a right to do so openly.It is quite sad that you all cannot recognize debate for what it is – debate. Instead you resort to name calling because you have no real defense for TK. If you do, again, I implore you give it!
Typical??? You bet. Opposition is typical in America … or don’t you forget the last 8 years? You all were pretty harsh on W, no? And when a president deserves it, he deserves it.
Yes, Saitia, I called TK a murderer. Care to defend him? That would be substantive, so please do. Some kind of truth? Let’s hear yours. As far as liberal goes, I don’t need the word socialist … liberal works fine for me and if your party did not see it as negative then they would not be working so hard to change their tag to progressive. There. More substance for you; I suspect it will go unchallenged and I will be able to add more names to the list you all have given me because I practiced the age old AMERICAN principle of opposition.
The more I know about Ted Kennedy, the more I miss him.
Yes, he was a human with faults, but he also endured some great tragedy, and kept it together, carrying the torch for those beloved family members who were denied the right to do the good works they set out to do.
He really is one of a kind, and will be greatly missed.
I hope his colleagues honor him by passing a health care bill in his memory, with his name on it.
Darn…I am late to the gunfight. Too bad, I wanted to call someone a douche nozzle.
If its me then add it to the list. If it is them, then be careful … they are likely to go wee wee wee wee all the way home.
I was sad to hear of his death. My condolences and prayers go out to his family.
splash,
i will answer you once more, and then never again. i will leave it up to the others whether they want to engage you or not.
you inserted jesse helms into this conversation, as though there was some moral equivalency between him and teddy kennedy. nobody here has ever forgotten the Mary Jo Kopechne incident. i don’t think we know the complete truth about what happened, and i suspect we never will. one thing i’m sure of is that it was an accident, and i think that ted kennedy tried to atone for it every day of his life after it happened. the difference between jesse helms and ted kennedy is that jesse helms aimed to keep certain people down, while ted kennedy strove to lift people up. helms came from a place of bigotry and hate. no, ted kennedy was not a saint, but he did good things for a lot of people on a political and a personal level. we hear story after story of his small kindnesses, and even those on the other end of the political spectrum loved and respected him.
everyone who visits here knows that i am quite lenient when it comes to allowing people of opposing views to post comments here. you can count on one hand the number of comments i’ve deleted, and you won’t even have to use all your fingers. i deleted your links, but i allowed your comments to stay. you have the right to free speech, and you can exercise it all you want at your own blog. this, however, is not your site, so you have no right to speak. allowing you to spout your nonsense is a privilege i have extended to you, and you have abused it. you have every right to dislike ted kennedy or anyone else. however, you don’t have the right to step on the feelings of other people or be disrespectful to them in another person’s house. this is my house, and you are not welcome here if you intend to be disrespectful to me or to the other commenters. you may think that you are being clever, but you are only displaying your lack of class. a certain journalist died recently. i skewered him a few times, because i had no respect for him or his hateful views. however, once he announced he was gravely ill, i never featured him in a post again, and when he died, i remained silent. there’s a time and a place for everything, and it appears that you don’t have the social skills to understand that.
that’s my last word to you, splash. i think i’ve shown you more respect than you deserve.
Finally some substance. Well thank you. With all due respect. I did not show any disrespect with my first comment. It was you and your commenters who showed disrespect to me. Sure I use the word libby (a only after I was besieged) the names your commenters threw at me were far worse … but I can take it as well as I can dish it, so ti matters very little.
My point about Jesse was simple. Liberals expect respect shown to their own when they die, even as they gave very little to a death of someone on the opposite side of the aisle. I did not praise Jesse Helms; I didn’t like him; I even called him a bigot. That was besides my point which was re the hypocrisy of turning a murderer into a saint just because he was a liberal.
Yes, Chappaquiddick did happen and it was an accident. What wasn’t an accident was that Teddy left MJ for dead, did not report it until long after MJ was dead. Maybe she was dead when they hit the water. Maybe she wasn’t. The fact that he didn’t care about her but only for himself, his image, his career is something no one on the opposite side of his aisle would have ever gotten away with. Look at Governor Sanford – an affair, nobody died and he is through. Case rested.
As far as helping people, tell that to the 100s of thousands who have lost their jobs with Kennedy’s support and push of NAFTA which is responsible for the Clinton Manufacturing Recession that started about 1995/96; many liberals sight this as a sign that Kennedy was anti labor.
As a conservative, I cringe at the loss of any jobs; liberals lament more over union jobs that jobs for the average bloke. They also strive to create and reward union jobs over any other kind. So liberal caring just doesn’t do much to strum my heart strings. If it cannot be attached to great voting block – the poor, labor unions, the elderly, minorities – then they are not interested. But worse is that the interest they show to these groups does no more than trap their constituents at lower levels for longer periods of time. It is nothing short of a modern day form of slavery.
As for this being “your house”, it’s a blog. A blog that invites comments, not just from others, but from ALL others. I thank you for not deleting my comments but would have cared very little if you had. Look at all thy typing it would have saved me had you zapped my first comment instead of getting your feathers all ruffled over it. You deleted my link (something I would never do to you) and yet 6 of your people found their way to my site …. they were treated to a great article that I and my blogging partner wrote … and I had fun right here with you all.
And trust me … I did have fun … thank you.
Oh, I missed a fight? Damn!
you snooze, you lose, z! 🙂
Well, wasn’t that something! You prevailed in the end by using reason. Years ago a fellow came around my workplace selling stickers and I bought one that said “Calm will save the day”. It’s true. When someone checks out, there is no need to carry on in such childish behavior. Churchy types are the first to forget the admonition to be quick to listen, slow to speak. But, as you showed, calm and reason did prevail. There’s a story told by Betty Davis about how her mother said to never speak ill of the dead. So when Crawford shed her mortal coil the response was: “They tell me Joan Crawfords dead. Good”.
well, i try to model myself after bette davis! 😆
all those many months ago, i guess i still had some patience left. not so much these days. i just hope that people will ignore the trolls for the most part. i’ve been deleting trolls’ comments lately, but it’s usually let them know in advance that i’m going to delete their future comments, so they needn’t bother typing.