Regardless of the profound differences with Sen. Kennedy that I have shared my entire adult life, my thoughts are with his family today. In death, we are reminded of that we are all human and our time here is limited. There is never any harm in being gracious in times like these.We all face our Maker some day. I know some are rejoicing at Sen. Kennedy's death, and my intention here is not to wag a finger of judgment at them. As for me, I am glad that he will not be in the Senate any more. And there is some measure of closure for the Kopeckne family, as well, as Nick notes with his tribute.
Still, moving through the curtain of of the temporal to the eternal should give us all pause. We would do well to remember the humanity of every one, even those with whom we bitterly fought in life.
But for God's grace, we are all capable of, well, you fill in the blank. For example, we are capable of capitalizing on the death of an icon for political gain, a la the Wellstone Memorial. Remember that disgrace?
For the post-modern Left, whose religion and lifeblood is governmental control, Kennedy's death will likely prompt a resurgence of energy in the healthcare debate and an attempt to flood us with even more emotional appeals "in Kennedy's honor."
They are already talking about it. Call them on this. For in doing so, they fail to respect the dead -- even one they claim to love -- and they devalue human life to the level of a craven political act. Life is bigger than government. Let's live like it.
15 comments:
Do you find it they are celebrating, or reminding people that behind this manufactured media image of Ted, there was the image of someone who bought his name out of trouble with his name, money, and position in life.
I think you make some great points and comparing the healthcare rejuvination to the Wellstone Memorial is simply brilliant.
i hope more people think about mary jo.
the kennedys are no saints. old joe made his fortune bootlegging etc and was determined to bring legitimacy to the clan. how much of what they did was for public relations?
i've always considered ted kennedy to be a prick since the mary jo kopeckne incident.
"Life is bigger than government."
But smaller than transnational corporations?
I think Ted tried, naively, to bring some humanity to the corporate American state. Didn't know him, we didn't travel in the same circles. I doubt if my faux condolences would bring any comfort to his familia - so won't bother.
The Wellestone abomination wasn't a memorial, it was a necro-festival and fund raiser.
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Ted was a weak man. The truth is that we don't all grow up to be the people we once hoped we would be.
He was the sort of man who would save himself and allow a lovely lady to drown. He was a man whose politics was mired in Socialist Utopianism. He drowned himself in alcohol in an attempt to distance himself from the small, weak man he knew himself to be.
The family always tried to distance itself from its fortune, made as smugglers during Prohibition, and were never quite able to do that.
Nickie is correct that it's appropriate to be gracious to the dead in the way we hope others will be gracious to us when we die.
That doesn't mean we want to "be like Ted Kennedy" - the most inadequate of the brothers and the one who lived - until now. Neither does it mean that we want to ape his political absurdities.
I'm sure there will be a gawdy memorial to Ted somewhere and that pigeons will drop on it.
As with us all, sic transit gloria mundi.
There will be no Wellstone II if people are willing to speak the truth, out loud, to the legions of media junkies craving an historically important experience.
Condolences to the family.
Rhod is correct. I should have put "Memorial" in quotation marks. It was an abomination, but really, you must understand that the Wellstone Shindig was a church service for the post-modern Left. They see "meaning" in advancing control of the State over that Western civilization has traditionally left to private institutions. Wellstone Festival was the equivalent of a wild faith healing service to them.
Scunnert, yes, of course, life is bigger than transnational corporations, some of which (Big Pharma) are funding the attempted (in progress) heist of 1/6 of the American economy. Big institutions tend to behave like, well, big institutions. They lose sight of "small" things, like people, flags, traditions, and employees who worked their entire lives for a company.
And the point here is certainly not that the Kennedy family will read this blog, but others might. The sentiments communicated here are true.
LL, I think your comments are right on. Nickie, great post ... Ha! I should have figured you would put the car-in-the-water shot. But it fits there. Nice work.
And ... you are so right. We call the Left on this stuff when they go Wellstone. We should not put up with this. I promise you that Kennedy doesn't care about the prospects of healthcare "reform" now. The living are left to fight this fight.
I was always taught that if you can't say anything nice about a person, then don't say anything.
So my mouth is closed.
Not another Wellstone memorial... but I bet it will be.
DC, sometimes it's just tribal. And I trust my tribe.
Nice closing sentiment.
Tricia, it's the DC trademark... the velvet glove.
Thank you, Tricia, and yes ... Nick, it's true. Just like flogging enemies with a wet pasta noodle works for you, old friend.
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