Thoughts on Teddy Kennedy

I was saddened, but not surprised to hear of the death of Teddy Kennedy.
Press reports over the past few weeks made it clear that the end was near.
Maybe that's why the loss only hit me later.
First, lets clear the room of the 800 pound anthropoid.
His name is Chappaquidick.
I don't think anyone really knows exactly what happened that night 40 years ago, least of all Ted who was probably deep in his cups and likely Miss Kopechne's also.
I will preface with Pat Paulsen's"picky picky picky", when I say that in all likelihood if the congressman's name wasn't the same as his martyred brothers, he more than likely would have met his maker in a prison hospital.
Unlike his two tragic brothers,he dodged a bullet of his own.
I know that Teddy Kennedy is the bete-noire of the political Right, and 40 years ago I agreed with them that power and privilege again triumphed over justice. However, time sometimes brings with it wisdom.
Forty years on I am saddened by the Right's continued hatred of the man. It's as though, after, Chappaquidick, the remainder of his life amounted to a nullity
It dismays me that many of the people who hold to this view consider themselves Christians---who are supposed to be all about forgiveness and the idea of a man redeeming himself.
This I believe Kennedy did by being,for nearly 50 years in Congress, an impassioned and effective advocate for numerous bills and initiatives informed by a profound sense of justice and compassion.

For those who feel he got away with murder, or at least manslaughter---which he may very well have done---and feel he should have been punished, I
refer to the poem which tells us 'Bars and bricks do not a prison make.'.
I submit that Kennedy served many years after Chappaquidick in his own private penitentiary.
I think it likely that the guilt he felt after Chappaquidick was a main factor in his increased alcoholism and philandering, which led to the break-up of his marriage and the diminishment of his reputation.
Combine with that the loss of four beloved siblings at an early age, and the institutionalization of a fifth. In addition, he had to assume the onerous role of patriarch of the family, of which more than a few of the younger generation were dealt tragedies of their own, along with trouble with the law.
I believe god has a way of doling out extra-legal justice.
I also feel safe in saying that the loss of Teddy Kennedy--especially at this time of national crisis, as a feckless leader and a mostly spineless and clueless congress have done little or nothing to inspire confidence and hope--is devastating.
He was one of the last of a rapidly dying breed---a man who believed to his core that his job was to serve, not the greedy interests who have brought
us to this darkening time, but the people.
Thanks Teddy, for being a fighter---always on the side of the angels.