UPDATE: A listener has made me aware today (8/30/09) of a blog entry posted on the same day as mine by Robert (Bob) Grant, who gets a mention at the top of my posting.
Bob, never a fan of Ted, naturally played up ‘the incident’, but went on to detail the immigration act of 1964 that I mentioned as I agree with him that it changed the face of America, and yes, not necessarily for the better.
I was unaware of its strict percentage restrictions on who was allowed in and who was barred the door (unconfirmed information), which Bob notes. A link to his much more scathing entry is given below.
Also note, Grant returns to WABC for a 2 hour show, every Sunday fro Noon to 2PM Eastern time… quite an alternative lead in to Dave Marsh on Sirius/XM whose program is must listen radio, and to put it quite mildly, rather different ideologically from Bob’s. Gee, even when my show is in repose, Sundays are turning out to be fun again on the radio!
Grant’s rant:
http://www.bobgrantonline.com/archive/post_ted.cfm
Now, back to the original posting by yours truly!
“My gun has killed less people than Ted Kennedy’s car”. Remember that classic slap at the man many will recall only as ‘The Swimmer” (A Robert Grant line I believe).
How sad to have that incident define Ted’s life for so many. Sure most of us in this radio biz have all tweaked him in some way; the Chappaquiddick incident was ultimately comedy gold for many, as was his life in general, fraught as it was with political missteps, flirtatious assignations galore, and quite a bit of old John Barleycorn. I can recall Mark Simone and Tom Leykis back in the day turning out some brutally funny stuff based on the scandalous incident that Chappaquiddick was.
But the man deserves the tributes and praise that will be heaped upon him. Imperfect asshole that he was (making him pretty much like you and me pal), his fierce fealty to liberal causes and programs that more often than not did serve the public good, are hallmarks of quality not to be ignored.
For whatever reasons people such as he enter public life when they are financially positioned to lay back and just enjoy a life of indolence and sloth most of us would be satisfied with, public service did call and he delivered.
In 46 years of service he did his share of good, although what many believe to be his greatest accomplishment I still believe was his most flawed, the Immigration Act of 1965, which literally changed the face of America, and in a manner that was nowhere near as well thought out as one might have hoped. The degree to which the ethnic makeup of America was transformed by the law he helped see passed certainly turned out to be far greater than most could have foreseen.
And yes his personal life was a mess. I’ll leave it to pundits of far greater eloquence and insight to discourse in detail on his accomplishments. But for one example, long before it was a popular idea, he had championed a publically operated, single payer, national health care system. It tells too much about the brutality of many in power, that decades after his first initiatives in that area, we are still debating such a plan, rather than benefitting from such.
In many ways he was a few steps ahead of the pack. I believe his accomplishments outweigh his personal failings and those laws he may have passed that have been less than successful.
Finally, he helped deliver unto us, a savior, well Barack Obama… for which many may end up loving him or loathing him more for. Regardless he more often than not got it right from the left and supported ideas and programs that have endured and made better our nation.
Any time a voice of liberal thought is lost is a loss for the nation. And although the event of 7/18/69 shall linger in his legacy, I can only think how many public officials have sent so many men and woman to their deaths for no good reason, who will be remembered without the stain, the enduring reminder of a lapse of serious notoriety, he brought upon himself.
Whose life and policies hurt more people? Ted’s legacy will forever suffer the ignominy of one awful day, while Bush will remain heroic in the eyes of many a wing-nut, and Saint Regan remains such, despite all those his policies intentionally hurt.
Yes, Ted Kennedy was a sad and flawed man in many ways, yet few worked as long and as hard to try to do right by this nation as did he. All things considered, he shall be missed. The liberal lion deserves to be lionized for all he did right, those things that should truly be his legacy, programs and law that overwhelmingly obviated any flaws or wrong.
John Lightning PS As I sit in the soon to be vacated 11L facility, I have ‘Hardball’ on. Of course MSNBC is wall to wall Ted Kennedy, and is properly reverential and positive in reviewing his legacy. Opposite that broadcast on FOX, is crazy like a FOX Broadcaster Glenn Beck, interviewing Rush Limbaugh both practically calling the president a traitor and danger greater than any other to our nations future. Do you need any further proof of the difference between these two ‘news’ outlets.
Yeah, both may be light on news and slanted to suit differing agendas, but I’ll still take MSNBC any time. Even in the wake of the passing of a man as important and as much a part of our nations history as Ted Kennedy has passed, FOX shills for the usual anti-Obama audience and ignores the days main story. I have no desire to watch and see how they treat Ted’s passing, I can guess it will be less than favorable!
