The needy little boy behind Ted the titan (Brits Nail Ted to a T )

http://www.timesonline.co.uk ^ | August 30, 2009 | Dominic Lawson

[Para-Ord.45]

As Edward Kennedy was laid to rest yesterday, accompanied by a further fusillade of eulogies, we were forcibly made aware, once again, of the American fixation with the idea of personal redemption. The British are a less forgiving people. While even the right-wing US press skated around the late senator`s appalling personal behaviour over many years, in this country even politically sympathetic newspapers published excoriating accounts, concentrating on the incident 40 years ago when the 37-year-old Ted Kennedy abandoned Mary Jo Kopechne to die alone in a car he had driven off a small bridge linking Chappaquiddick to Martha`s Vineyard.

Kennedy`s particular pattern of behaviour is more characteristic of the left.

The most notable exponent of this was the man who almost invented socialism, Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

(excerpt)

[Para-Ord.45]

MORE: " The most notable exponent of this was the man who almost invented socialism, Jean-Jacques Rousseau. He declared, “I am the friend of all mankind”, but treated his wife and children with revolting heartlessness: he ordered her to send one after another of the infants she produced to institutions where two-thirds of those committed never reached their first birthday. Rousseau, who was at least honest about his own behaviour, wrote: “How could I achieve the tranquillity of mind necessary for my work, filled with the domestic cares and the noise of children?” He believed the task of improving the lot of humanity absolved him from the need to nurture his own family. Dickens, with his unerring eye, characterised this moral delusion in Bleak House in the person of Mrs Jellyby, so devoted to the cause of starving Africans that she had no time for the care of her own children: the consequent wretchedness of their plight scarcely crossed her mind. A recent, entirely non-fictional example of what we might call Rousseau-Jellybyism is the case of Arthur Miller. When the playwright died in 2005, one noted obituarist described him as “the moralist of the past American century”, while The New York Times acclaimed this man of the left’s “fierce belief in man’s responsibility to his fellow man”. Yet two years after his death it was revealed that in 1966 he had committed his newborn son Daniel, who had Down’s syndrome, to an institution — one that someone who worked there at the time described as “not a place you would want your dog to live”." http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/dominic_lawson/article6814927.ece?openComment=true

[kalee]

bttt

[scooby321]

Spot on Brits.

[Natural Law]

We do not owe Edward kennedy unconditional forgiveness for his negligent homicide of Mary Jo Kopechne, for his complicity in the murder of millions of unborn, or for his undermining of the American military that undoubtedly cost lives from Vietnam to Afghanistan. Forgiveness requires contrition and there is no evidence that Ted, even upon his deathbed, was ever sorry for any of his sins.

[gaijin]

Devastating...!!! And a GREAT attack on ARTHUR MILLER..! WOW..! Great political ammunition..!!

[skeeter]

I'm not as understanding towards Uncle Ted as is the author here.

He was a spoiled nihilistic rich kid, who used individuals as well as his country as a place to relieve his bladder after a few too many.

[Aria]

The problem was that even if Ted Kennedy’s conscious motive had been to redeem himself, or his family’s reputation, he could hardly have said so without appearing to define his fight for control of the White House as a gruesomely public display of emotional neediness. Yet that was the story of his life.

Seems to me that zero might have similar motives for being POTUS but in his case looking for relevance to make up for his childhood.

[boatbums]

there is no evidence that Ted, even upon his deathbed, was ever sorry for any of his sins.

Because, he never saw them as "sins", only "shortcomings"? To acknowledge your actions as sinful requires a heart sensitive to right and wrong absolutes, first; a contrite heart (sorrow), second; and, third, a change of mind (repentance) about those very acts of sin. I cannot see into a man's heart but I can know him by his actions (his fruit). To hear what Kennedy supposedly believed concerning his church do not jibe with his actions - not just in his younger days, but up until his last acts as senator. It's between him and God, now.

[cradle of freedom]

Arthur Miller’s callous behavior reminds me of how another leftist icon, John Lennon abandoned his son by his first wife. He never visited him or gave him any of his money. The boy lived in poverty in a modest neighborhood where all the kids at his school thought he must have been rich because his father was John Lennon.

[henry_reardon]

I wasn’t aware we had a right wing press

[rbg81]

I am really sickened by the unprecedented orgy of MSM coverage of the Kennedy funeral. I don’t think even Reagan got the reverance that Ted Kennedy is getting. Even Fox News got into the act. Other than his famous name, it is a sham to call Ted Kennedy a great man. He has done nothing of real value—his “great” legislative achievements are little more than pokes in the eye to the Middle class. To call this man a “hero” is a disgrace and I for one will not mourn his passing.

[rbg81]

I read a few Beatles biographies. John Lennon was a real thug in his younger days. He once kicked a guy in the head with a steel toed boot and the guy recovered (somewhat), but later died. His whole embrace of “peace and love” was just a bad act, IMHO. His bad karma eventually caught up with him.

[nutmeg]

I am really sickened by the unprecedented orgy of MSM coverage of the Kennedy funeral. I don’t think even Reagan got the reverance that Ted Kennedy is getting. Even Fox News got into the act. Other than his famous name, it is a sham to call Ted Kennedy a great man. He has done nothing of real value—his “great” legislative achievements are little more than pokes in the eye to the Middle class. To call this man a “hero” is a disgrace and I for one will not mourn his passing.

I couldn't agree more, rbg81. I watched the funeral this morning/afternoon, but I've had my fill of Chappaquiddick Ted, his 'RAT family (who are supposed to be "for the common man") yakking on and on about sailing their yachts, and hearing "redemption" and "Teddy" over and over again. Usually I would tune in to see the rest of this coverage just for the sake of history, but my husband and I have had enough already... we turned it all off at the end of the funeral in Boston. We're now watching baseball...

[crymeariver]

Patrick Kennedy, in his eulogy, told a story about Teddy leaving some money on the sink in their hotel room. When Patrick told his dad that he left money there Ted said it was for the women who break their backs making beds! Wow, what a saint that Ted was! We all must canonize Teddy for leaving a tip. What a great human being he was! Wow!

[nutmeg]

John Lennon was a real thug in his younger days. He once kicked a guy in the head with a steel toed boot and the guy recovered (somewhat), but later died.

Wow, I never knew that. I never liked John Lennon, especially when he took up with that weirdo Yoko Ono...

[cradle of freedom]

All day today, I heard how Kennedy was loved by many people for his many acts of kindness. This made me wonder how he could have been such a kind and thoughtful person but still have done the kinds of things that he did. I think Kennedy's redemption was in the bottle and in the love of the world. When one didn't work the other took over. I think he really needed the approval of the world as a way of validating himself as a good human being. This may be true of many liberals such as Rousseau, Arthur Miller and John Lennon. Remember how Lennon was always working for world peace while abandoning his own son?

From many of the things that I have read about the Kennedy's, they are a very dysfunctional family. Even Jackie Kennedy tried to keep her kids away from the Kennedys. The Kennedys seem to be a combination of out-of- control ambition and denial. They seem to just pretend not to see anything that is unpleasant.

[RVN Airplane Driver]

Patrick Kennedy, in his eulogy, told a story about Teddy leaving some money on the sink in their hotel room. When Patrick told his dad that he left money there Ted said it was for the women who break their backs making beds! Wow, what a saint that Ted was! We all must canonize Teddy for leaving a tip. What a great human being he was! Wow!

Having been in the hotel biz for many years I can almost assure you that he didn't give the maids diddly squat. Most so called big folks stiff hotel workers. Given his credentials...that was a given!

[doosee]

Agreed, Shepard Smith was disgusting. He actually said no one knows the concept of family like the Kennedys. As imperfect as most families are, how many include drug addiction, alcoholism, rape, murder, adultery to name a few. I wish I could shove a bar of Ivory soap down Shepards throat.

[goldi]

“and although he paid $90,000 out of his own ample pocket to the parents of Mary Jo, her mother later recalled: “I don’t think he ever said he was sorry.”

Well, being a Kennedy means you never have to say you’re sorry, just pay people off. That should be sufficient, peon.