Hero Senator?
by Don Cooper
The passing of any human being American or otherwise is always a hard time for family and friends, colleagues and acquaintances. The recent passing of Ted Kennedy is no different I’m sure. Except for the way the man is being remembered: an American hero of sorts. As one woman put it: "a senator we couldn’t afford to lose." As another put it: "part of an American political dynasty." And as one news anchor put it this morning: "he spent the rest of his life trying to atone for his transgressions by serving the public." Others are referring to his nickname as the "liberal lion." Roar! These comments show so clearly the fantasy world that is our federal government and the complete lack of moral character and respect for our country and her constitution by those who have been in it so long that they not only define it; they own it; they run it. They are treated as if they are not held to the same social standards as the rest of us when in fact they most certainly are. Ted Kennedy is a man whose life was marked with immorality and scandal from an early age. A man who was expelled from Harvard for cheating and a man who should have been tried on at least vehicular homicide in the killing of Mary Jo Kopechne but rather was given the opportunity to plead to a lesser charge of "leaving the scene of an accident after causing injury" and receive a suspended sentence. And that was considered okay since he spent the rest of his life trying to atone for it. From Wikipedia:
I wonder how Miss Kopechne’s parents liked the wording of that one? "…causing injury." I guess that’s a euphemism used for the Kennedy family meaning death. I’m sure there are a lot of irresponsible people in jail right now for vehicular homicide of one sort or another who would prefer to spend their lives as free men being paid by the American people while atoning for their transgressions as Kennedy was allowed to do rather than paying their debt to society behind bars. Not only was Kennedy allowed to remain free, he was elected to public office over the course of 50+ years in a legislative capacity – you know, the guys that write laws like the ones he broke – and rewarded with an annual salary by the American people. Even worse, he presided over the highly influential Senate Judiciary Committee having a tremendous influence on courts around the country and prospective Supreme Court nominees. You know, like the kind of court and federal judge that ensured he didn’t get sent to jail for murder like he might have if tried by a jury of his peers if his name wasn’t Kennedy. That alone is enough to show that the man lacked any semblance of the necessary character or integrity to represent anyone let alone be paid by me and you. I would have had more respect for the man if he had answered for being directly responsible for the death of another human being rather than the cowardice he showed by using his political influence to dodge it. Then of course there were the ongoing scandals. Again from Wikipedia;
Some will say he was the victim of the "Kennedy curse." That it was because of the "curse" that he had another student take his freshman Spanish test for him at Harvard and subsequently get caught. It was the "curse" that caused him to drive off the bridge at Chappaquiddick and not his libido and the all the booze he’d drank all evening. It was the "curse" that caused him to take his son and nephew out clubbing and hook-up with those girls. As for the American political dynasty: that’s exactly what our government is NOT supposed to be: a dynasty ruled by one ruling class of people whether it be a family or collection of families like Kennedy, Bush, Clinton or whoever. It’s supposed to be of the people, by the people and for the people. And what is with all these crotchety old men trying to identify themselves with virile animals? How pathetic. I guess these political titles and a bottle of Viagra is the recipe for political potency in Washington. McCain is a maverick; Kennedy is a lion. How about just trying to be a moral man and live up to your oath to defend, protect and preserve the constitution of the United States like you swore you would do? That would really be enough. Ted Kennedy was nobody special. He was a civil servant at best, a cheating, philandering, murderer at worst. He was a man who never held a real job in his life. He went right from school into politics. His entire life was financed by you and me. He engaged in what some would want us to believe was "ground breaking" legislation but was of course all constitutionally illegal, created moral hazard and cost us more than it could have ever possibly provided. Legislation like support of our billion dollar plus annual payments to Israel at the expense of the American people. He’s been described as a warrior for the less fortunate (you know, people who didn’t win life’s lottery like you and me) and a fierce advocate for health-care reform. Once again proving that politicians understand less about the economy they think they are charged with controlling then the people they represent. Ted Kennedy, like most representatives in Washington, was under the impression that he was supposed to make decisions for his constituency rather than listen to them and represent their wants in Washington and this made him a dangerous man for this country. He spent more than five decades as part of the political machine that has been slowly and systematically driving this country into the ground. I’m not glad the man’s dead. He was a husband, a father, a grandfather I would imagine, a human being. But I am glad he’s out of the government. Funny, there are many men in public life who go through their entire lives and are never caught in such scandalous situations as the ones Ted Kennedy was. I guess he was just "unfortunate." August 29, 2009 Don Cooper [send him mail] is a Florida native, Navy veteran and economist living and working in the Midwest. Copyright © 2009 by LewRockwell.com. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is gladly granted, provided full credit is given.
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