Time Plays Up Teddy's Catholicism, Utterly Ignores His 100-Percent Record on Abortion, Gays

Time’s Amy Sullivan seems to have a special assignment to try and play up the religiosity of liberal Democrats despite their libertine policy stands, from Barack Obama to Ted Kennedy. On Thursday, Sullivan underlined "Ted Kennedy’s Quiet Catholic Faith." How does that match with his ultraliberal political record on abortion and homosexuality, his perfect 100-percent scores with NARAL or the Human Rights Campaign? Sullivan simply ignores that obvious problem.

(HRC’s YouTube channel proudly shows Kennedy suggesting Jesse Helms might be in Hell at a March 2008 dinner. So much for Christian charity.)

Kennedy only fully embraced Catholicism later in life, particularly after marrying his second wife. Vicki Kennedy was one of a handful of prominent Catholic Democrats who strongly urged John Kerry to defend questions about his faith during the 2004 presidential campaign, and she served as a surrogate for the Obama campaign in 2008 in heavily Catholic areas.

Sullivan played up Kennedy’s life of prayer and Mass attendance, and that is certainly important, but it doesn't define a "full embrace." (A politically conservative Catholic who publicly opposed abortion and homosexuality, but didn’t pray or attend Mass wouldn’t be "fully embracing" Catholicism, either.) The closest Sullivan came to Kennedy's complete rejection of Catholic teaching on sexuality came next:

The now retired Monsignor Thomas Duffy remembers the Senator and his wife becoming regular fixtures at the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Washington's Chevy Chase neighborhood. "He and Vicki used to come to Mass rather regularly when they were in town," says Duffy, noting that her children also went to confession and attended religion classes. "We sometimes didn't agree on certain issues, but we would always chat."

Those "certain issues" are rather central to Catholics, especially abortion, leaving Sullivan with an article that reads like "Ted Kennedy's Quiet Life of Meat-Eating Vegetarianism." But she's insistent on revealing Kennedy's "deep faith" in God and his church:

But while they were famously Catholic, the hard-living Kennedys weren't known for being famously devout. So it might come as a surprise that faith played a deep and important role for many of them, including Ted Kennedy. The Rev. Patrick Tarrant, who was at the Senator's bedside the night he died, told ABC News that Kennedy was "a man of quiet prayer." Said the priest: "The whole world knows a certain part of his life very well, but I think there's another part of his life that very few people know, and that is his deep faith."

Strangers can hardly judge Kennedy's prayer life or discussions with clergy. But if a politician's public speeches and stands obviously contradict church teaching, then it's hard to push him or her as a "devout Catholic." In political terms, if a politician claimed to be a "devout liberal" in their personal life, but voted with liberals only half the time, the liberals would choke on the "devout liberal" line and protest it wasn't accurate. Even Amy Sullivan would probably avoid her usually ridiculous labeling in that case.

Saturday, August 13, 2005

Waitress Sandwich Kennedy Dodd Style
by Bonjo
Please update your links, the Kennedy-Dodd Waitress Sandwich Information Clearinghouse has moved to: http://sonsoftherepublic.blogspot.com/2005/08/kennedy-dodd-waitress-sandwich.html

Chris Dodd, recalling the good old days.

One of the search terms that frequently brings visitors to the SOTR is "kennedy dodd waitress sandwich". Somehow our lowly blog has become the Internet repository for information on Ted Kennedy, Chris Dodd and an unsuspecting waitress at La Brasserie (a restaurant near Capitol Hill in Washington, DC). Some accounts put this event at The Monocle, another DC restaurant. For all we know, it happened at both establishments--and who's to say similar antics didn't occur at many others. Therefore, let it be established that the two senators were at a restaurant.

So to satisfy everyone's curiosity, we offer the following, compiled from various sources:

In 1985, Dodd and fellow Senator Ted Kennedy were out (with dates) for a night on the town at La Brasserie. Much liquor was consumed--that will come as a shock to those of us familiar with Ted Kennedy--and the two Senators were at one point unaccompanied by their dates. The Senators made a "Waitress Sandwich" out of some poor, unsuspecting waitress.

If you're not entirely sure what that means, let's just say you wouldn't want to be the waitress.

Article clip, from the Hartford Courant:

"Dodd and Kennedy were also reported to have made a 'human sandwich' with a waitress at La Brasserie, another Capitol Hill restaurant. The report had it that Kennedy threw the woman on Dodd, who was slumped in a chair, and then jumped on top of her. She was said to have run screaming from the room."

Summary of 1989 Penthouse magazine article, summarized by the Washington Times:

"When she put in an appearance in their private retreat - 'The Teddy Kennedy Fun Room' - the Massachusetts senator picked her up and heaved her onto a table. The crystal candlesticks and champagne glasses shattered as he grabbed her again and flung her on top of Dodd.

"Then Kennedy threw himself on top of the woman. The waitress implored Mr. Kennedy to 'Get off me!'

"Another waitress entered to find 'things all tipped over and Kennedy was on top, [the waitress] was in the middle and Dodd was on the bottom.' At that point the sandwich was disassembled."

Related: DC "Waitress Sandwich Shop" Shutters Doors
Washington Post, August 5, 2005

La Brasserie, a French restaurant on Capitol Hill, closed last month, after a 27-year history of catering to political bigwigs and Hollywood A-listers.

"It was quite a Hill institution," said Lynne Breaux, executive director of the Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington, who has eaten there several times. "It was a lovely restaurant."

La Brasserie was located in a town house on Massachusetts Avenue Northeast. It served such politicos as the late Sen. Daniel Moynihan, New York Democrat, former Vice President Al Gore and the late Rep. Sonny Bono, California Republican, as well as actors like Jimmy Stewart, Paul Newman and Jane Fonda, [and who could forget Ted Kennedy and Chris Dodd making unique contributions to our sandwich menu] said Lynne Campet, a former co-owner of the restaurant.

"A lot of important people dined there," she said.

Mrs. Campet and her husband, Raymond, bought the restaurant in 1978 with Gaby and Marie Aubouin. At the time, it was a Greek-owned restaurant called Maxim's and previously a cafe called La Ruche.

Mr. Campet and Mr. Aubouin, who worked at the French Embassy together, built the restaurant into a neighborhood favorite. The outdoor patio was "very special," Mrs. Campet said, adding that diners sought the tables under the property's big tree.

The 2003 Zagat Survey, which rates restaurants in different markets, said La Brasserie's terrace "transports one to Paris."

The French-inspired menu included such items as the cold three pepper soup, crabmeat and mozzarella lasagna, homemade tarts and creme brulee.

In 1992, the restaurant was sold to sisters Audrey and Karinne Dequeker, who could not be reached for comment yesterday.

- Posted by Bonjo @ 8/13/2005 12:32:00 PM | Permanent Link

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