Comments on: Senator Kennedy and the Case for Second Chances http://trueslant.com/eliemystal/2009/08/26/senator-kennedy-and-the-case-for-second-chances/ Politics in the Post-Racial Age Wed, 09 Mar 2011 14:15:27 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: andygeiger http://trueslant.com/eliemystal/2009/08/26/senator-kennedy-and-the-case-for-second-chances/comment-page-1/#comment-133 andygeiger Wed, 26 Aug 2009 19:00:09 +0000 http://trueslant.com/eliemystal/?p=258#comment-133 Lawdy lawdy… I’m 34, never really followed politics, but i sure am learning a lot about the late Sen. Kennedy today. So which is it… is he a hero, or not? If i contemplate the record i keep hearing about; him being the most accomplished US Senator in terms of getting legislation passed that benefitted the common American, then i – as a quite common American – am damn glad he got to be a Senator. If i consider all of the people i’ve seen today digging up and slinging dirt while his corpse is still cooling, then i just have to wonder… that if you amplified your righteous indignation 100,000+ times for every innocent Iraqi that has been murdered by the bush admin, should dubya spontaneously combust on the spot? or should you rush to Texas so you can consume him whole? No, my verdict is this: In our rogue’s gallery of US Political leadership, Ted Kennedy was one of the best of them all. I'm glad we had him and we'll be diminished by the loss. Lawdy lawdy… I’m 34, never really followed politics, but i sure am learning a lot about the late Sen. Kennedy today.

So which is it… is he a hero, or not?

If i contemplate the record i keep hearing about; him being the most accomplished US Senator in terms of getting legislation passed that benefitted the common American, then i – as a quite common American – am damn glad he got to be a Senator.

If i consider all of the people i’ve seen today digging up and slinging dirt while his corpse is still cooling, then i just have to wonder… that if you amplified your righteous indignation 100,000+ times for every innocent Iraqi that has been murdered by the bush admin, should dubya spontaneously combust on the spot? or should you rush to Texas so you can consume him whole?

No, my verdict is this: In our rogue’s gallery of US Political leadership, Ted Kennedy was one of the best of them all. I’m glad we had him and we’ll be diminished by the loss.

]]> By: Tom Burke http://trueslant.com/eliemystal/2009/08/26/senator-kennedy-and-the-case-for-second-chances/comment-page-1/#comment-132 Tom Burke Wed, 26 Aug 2009 18:06:58 +0000 http://trueslant.com/eliemystal/?p=258#comment-132 I doubt this is what Elie is referring to, since he was already a senator at the time, and nearly 40 years old. The "scandals of his youth" Elie talks about are probably him cheating at Harvard and recklessly driving in law school. I doubt this is what Elie is referring to, since he was already a senator at the time, and nearly 40 years old. The “scandals of his youth” Elie talks about are probably him cheating at Harvard and recklessly driving in law school.

]]> By: F. Paul Wilson http://trueslant.com/eliemystal/2009/08/26/senator-kennedy-and-the-case-for-second-chances/comment-page-1/#comment-131 F. Paul Wilson Wed, 26 Aug 2009 15:34:52 +0000 http://trueslant.com/eliemystal/?p=258#comment-131 She had a name, damn it: Mary Jo Kopechne. She wasn't a scandal, she was a person who had her life cut short by an act of monumentally callous irresponsibility. Second chance? What second chance? Teddy Kennedy didn't even get a slap on the wrist. Everything was glossed over and hushed up. What about Mary Jo's first chance? She had a name, damn it: Mary Jo Kopechne. She wasn’t a scandal, she was a person who had her life cut short by an act of monumentally callous irresponsibility. Second chance? What second chance? Teddy Kennedy didn’t even get a slap on the wrist. Everything was glossed over and hushed up. What about Mary Jo’s first chance?

]]> By: Susan Toepfer http://trueslant.com/eliemystal/2009/08/26/senator-kennedy-and-the-case-for-second-chances/comment-page-1/#comment-130 Susan Toepfer Wed, 26 Aug 2009 15:22:09 +0000 http://trueslant.com/eliemystal/?p=258#comment-130 Elie, although I greatly admire the Senator's tireless public service, I think causing a young woman's death, then fleeing the scene of that death, qualifies as more than a youthful indiscretion, especially for a married father of three. No, I don't think he could survive it politically today; nor, perhaps, should he have then. He got a pass because he was a Kennedy. Granted, we are all better off for that pass, but we should also pause to remember that young life lost. Who knows what she might have accomplished? Elie, although I greatly admire the Senator’s tireless public service, I think causing a young woman’s death, then fleeing the scene of that death, qualifies as more than a youthful indiscretion, especially for a married father of three. No, I don’t think he could survive it politically today; nor, perhaps, should he have then. He got a pass because he was a Kennedy. Granted, we are all better off for that pass, but we should also pause to remember that young life lost. Who knows what she might have accomplished?

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