And as an escapee from the Peoples Socialist Republic of Massachuetts that may backfire....
My 1st trip to the the midwest where people gathered from all over the place was an eye opener. I thought I had bad breath. I'd talk to people and the minute they found out I was from MA they left. It took a while to figure out.
The point is, many folks like us may have an anti-MA bias, because, of Ted, Dukakis etc.
That will only fuel more resistance.
Not to be macabe, but Ted was not the only frail Dem Senator, Bird has not been heard from much these days and their are 33 other Dems over 70 in the Senate. They need to pass this kludge fast before the good Lord calls more of them home, that is if he decides to do so.....
taildragger, you may appreciate this particular anecdote, then...
My buddy and i were out in Oshkosh for the annual air show a few years back, and it was the end of a beautiful day...the sun was going down fast, the flight line was emptying out, and we found ourselves standing in a big circle with about a dozen people we didn’t know, from all over America. It was just a chance thing, a bunch of strangers talking, asking all the usual questions such as “Where are you from?” and so on.
Going around the circle, there was someone from Oklahoma, which caused someone to sing out “OOOOk-lahoma, where the wind comes sweepin’ down the plain...!” and someone else was from Texas, and a comment came up about how tough the Texas Rangers were...you get the idea. It was kind of fun.
When they asked us, and we said we were from Massachusetts, the entire circle fell silent. There was about a two second pause, and someone very politely asked “Ah. Um...what IS going on up there in Massachusetts?”
I felt like the eight year old Little Leaguer who was the worst player on the team, consigned to playing out in Right Field. If you ever watch those kids, they stand out there, one foot kicking at the ground until there is a good, deep furrow in the grass. They all do it. Whether out of embarrassment, boredom or fear that a baseball might actually be hit in their direction, there are always those furrows in the outfield.
That’s what I was doing there, when that guy in Oshkosh asked that question of me. I was kicking at the tarmac with my toe. For much the same reasons as that eight year old kid in Right Field.
I was in Meridian, Mississippi when JFK was shot. About an hour later, after I quit grieving, I went into town for something at a hardware store. The guy in front of me asked the clerk at the register if he’d heard that Kennedy was shot?
“Yes, and I hope they get his brother next!”
Fast forward to 1968, when Bobby did get shot. That came in June, after Dr. King’s assassination in April, plus many months of unrest and riots over several issues. We were in Key West at the time, and my wife was 6 months pregnant with our first kid. She just sat on the bed in the motel and cried a bit. Things got to her, I guess.
This morning, when she came downstairs and I told her that Teddy was dead, she said, “Really?” and continued to occupy herself with pulling down masking tape from yesterday’s paint job.
Forty years and four kids will toughen you up.
I’m sure Teddy’s soul is realizing right now what an evil POS he was on earth.