Kennedy's Shoes

funny, I thought those shoes were walking in line behind a relatives political career.

What did he ever do besides being on the government dole? Was he a scholastic man of letters or a mediocre student? Did he serve in the armed forces with distinction or did he receive special treatment and avoid Korea? Did he pursue a profession? Did he build a business? Did he accomplish anything other than to get elected repeatedly? I am sure he sponsored legislation. I am sure he was beloved by his friends, family and political supporters. But he also appears to have been a polarizing figure. So, if his shoes are too big to fill, I suspect we are measuring shoes with a curious yardstick. If doing nothing other than making rules for others to follow is greatness, greatness is highly overrated.

Kennedy stood up for children of all walks of life. He wanted it to be his legacy. He and his sibs have consistantly cared for and appreciated the outcast and disabled who were unlikely to reach voting age.

Like most good men, he lived his legacy as a dream, not a plan.

I hope Senator Brown has half the compassion for the unfornunate that lived in Ted Kennedy's heart. If he does, I'll support him.

If, on the other hand, he builds his senate platform around the adage that "if you don't work, you don't eat", I'll send a somewhat unaffordable donation to whoever opposes him next term.

There is no way to ever hope to sway anyone to see Ted Kennedy as I did, so I won't try. John and Robert managed, in such a short amount of time, to seemingly pave the way for Ted, it appeared as though he was left with little more to do than 'just' be a Kennedy.

But he was much more than that. Actually, he become the 'foundation' of the Kennedys despite one monumental set back in his life.

If Mr. Brown will now do the best he can do with the position he now holds, Ted won't mind that he is the first Republican to hold that seat in more than 50 years.

If the new senator from the state of Massachusetts does what is best for the people there he will have filled the Ted's shoes admirably.

Now..let the 'sniping' begin.....

Wishing everyone hope for tomorrow, Woody

"Kennedy...and his sibs have consistently cared for and appreciated the outcast and disabled who were unlikely to reach voting age"? Funny, I never knew they opposed abortion. (Abortion: the murder of little babies for the convenience of grownups. Because it probably murders more little Democrats than little Republicans, abortions since A.D. 1973 are responsible for many GOP victories since A.D. 1991. Kennedy elected Brown.)

"Like most good men..."? Adultery is sin. Drunkenness is sin.

"compassion" means sending tax dollars (not the money you've earned yourself, but money the IRS takes from other people) to those who "don't work"? No, compassion means letting them work (get rid of the minimum wage law and other regulations that discourage work), pushing them to work (stop paying them not to), helping them help themselves with wht they've got. (It means repentance and forgiveness in Christ Jesus and metamorphosis by the Holy Ghost.) Read the new book by Covenant College professors Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert, on how to help without hurting. A friend of mine does some accounting work although she has no hands.

Some shoes. Brown may never be as famous as Kennedy, but he'll easily do less harm.

That's strange...the shoes don't look wet at all...

How's that for performance under stress? And it lasted for eight hours. Yeah, he really cared about "children", all right.

Teddy's legacy? Walking in his brothers' shoes that were way too big for him...a spoiled little boy playing at being grown-up.

As with Hanoi Jane, we will never forget, Teddy. You are in questionable -- but well-deserved -- company these days.

[Sounds a lot like our current "Leader"...]

Not to gloat [yeah, right] or mix metaphors too far, but U.S. SENATOR Scott will stretch those shoes to fit, remove the stains with elbow grease, polish to remove the scuffs, and finally, return integrity to the office to remove the seaweed and improve the shine.

Most of the criticisms of Ted Kennedy presented here couldn't be applied to some of his political rivals, could they? Maybe if we could remember that our legislators are fallible human beings, this country wouldn't be so divided. Maybe if fingers were used to do the work of government rather than pointed at one another in accusation and derision, we would accomplish more.

The problem in Mass was that the party put another Palin in to fill the seat of a legacy. Whatever happens from here depends on how the Dems read the cards and whether they can quit bickering among themselves and get on with it.

The shoes allegedly belonged to Teddy not some rival. Teddy was a drunken fool who literally crumbled under pressure and could not handle the responsibilities of higher office. He was never one to work.

Funny how many Liberals always scream about bipartisanship, "working together", and "reaching across the aisle" when they are in deep political doo-doo. But then, that's just the way they are.

How the Dems read the cards is immaterial, EaTn. No matter what, until November they will misread them, as always. They thought they had a shoe-in [pun intended] until it came time for the voters to speak. Or should I say, shout?

The Dems are already blaming everyone but themselves. No, they ARE blaming certain other democrats...but only the other guy.

I wondered how long it would take for the usual suspects to drag a highly viable but still non-candidate into the discussion as a whipping boy...about 8 or 9 posts.

Correction: During edit, a word was inadvertently removed my my 7:15AM post. The second sentence should have begun, "Teddy was allegedly a drunken fool..."

The Repubs shouldn't read the tea leaves blindly- this is the same wave that swept them out in '06-08'. A mad snake will strike the first thing that comes near it.

Kennedy's Shoes-a pathetic joke. Let a girl suffocate to death in a car, stay drunk for years and completely destroy the "legacy" of his brothers and people will sit around and weep for you when you're gone-only because they think they're supposed to. Ted Kennedy was a perfect example of why this country needs term limits.

jhenry- out of your pile of garbage, a jewel popped out- "term limits". As we watch the partisan rhetoric from DC it's obvious that new blood is needed and not the kind that grows up from partisan ranks.

Hooray for Scott Brown! There is hope for this country yet.

I guess the Lib canard that the Republican party has become a rump party of the South has been proven wrong!

Obama is a shrinking little man right now, eh?

somethingorother wrote: "Most of the criticisms of Ted Kennedy presented here couldn't be applied to some of his political rivals, could they?"

Of course they could, the Left do it all the time, blaming the Repubs especially when they're attempting to deny or detract from the truth of what their own guys are doing.

Truth: Edward Kennedy, son of Joseph Kennedy, who made his fortune rum-running and illegally smuggling liquor across the northern border. Brother of JFK, who betrayed his wife Jackie numerous times by committing adultery. The JFK, a friend of the Mafia and involved in an affair with Marilyn Monroe when she 'died' mysteriously of an 'overdose'.

Edward (Teddy), who took a young woman (MaryJo Kopechne) one night with the intention of having sex (adultery) with her (his admission), drove drunk and straight off a bridge, leaving her to drown while he escaped. This is courage? Integrity?

Uncle of Pat Kennedy who was acquitted of date raping a young women on the Kennedy compound one night, after Uncle Ed pulled strings with the local police. Uncle Ed was found wandering around in his underwear that night, drunk and disorderly. And it goes on and on. JFK was assassinated. Brother of Robert Kennedy who also was assassinated. Robert Kennedy Jr. died in a plane crash while piloting his craft to Martha's Vineyard, with his young wife aboard.

I'd say this family has a legacy all right. A legacy that we should never again wish upon this country. While they lived it up on their compounds and in their mansions, they supposedly "helped" the less fortunate. Eunice did, that's about it. And she was treated like a dog by Edward and other family members. His drunkenness and womanizing can be seen as the symptoms of a deeper, darker depression of spirit. One that he admitted trying to banish for the rest of his life. It's called guilt. He knew he was full of it.

I'd say the needy, as Andrew Lohr pointed out, could do without that kind of help and instead, look to Sen. Brown who, hopefully will never repeat this "legacy" and will do something productive to help get his state back on track. What a mess, a political nightmare our states and country are in. A la Progressivism.

The Kennedy's are worshipped, as most Progressives are, without any rationale, any true sense of history or desire to get to the truth. There are far more worthy individuals and families who helped build this country and will never receive credit for it. Yet, not all is lost. While Ted Kennedy rests in his grave, awaiting the Judgement Seat, we are seeing a modicum of Justice enacted this very day. The worn shoes are off and Massachusettans can turn over a new leaf in the New Year. Shine up your new shoes Sen. Brown and get to work cleaning up, I say.

Shame on you Clay et al for denying the facts.

One of your better posts, canary. The susurrus heard in the backgound is a groundswell of applause.

I think Mr. Brown will fit nicely in the South's image of a beer drinking, gun toting, truck driving conservative. If you'd like to know and see the "bare" facts of his earlier modelling career, just search Scott Brown Cosmopolitan.

Rolando, was your degree in English or History?

Thanks EaTN, I'll pass. Already seen plenty of naked men, starting with Michelangelo's David, then there was Adam, etc. etc. Beautiful <@
And that has to do with Teddy's ongoing sins in what way? Brown was in his twenties and probably vain like so many of that age group. Oh, and the guy is Liberal on some issues so your hatred of "redneck" Christians won't wash with him.

princehal (of dubious literary fame): What exactly does Rolando's degrees have to do with the facts? This is your sole contribution re: Teddy's destructive lifestyle and career?

Most of the folks who post comments on this site have "BS" degrees, self included.

I don't want to debate abortion, as no one has ever changed their opinion because of an internet forum, but abortion was defined above as "the murder of little babies for the convenience of grownups".

Another apt and current definition is "a legal procedure to terminate pregnancy". I doubt history will judge Ted Kennedy on an issue decided by the Supreme Court.

Bringing up his alcoholism to smear his sense of comapassion is low road indeed.

I think the major point here is that Kennedy was a major player, a powerful political influence. Perhaps he had more influence than was justified, but he had it, and wielded it. (Remember Bork)

Perhaps Brown may have as much influence as Kennedy did. Brown's major influence now is more about what he is not ... i.e. he's not a Democrat.

I wish him well and wish him wisdom. When his policies are different than mine, I hope time proves him right and me wrong.

Great post moonpie. If that's not the attitude we all need to have, I don't know what is.

And you too, Canary. We do need a new "legacy" to be started in Washington.

EaTn: why would you call jHenry's post a pile of garbage? It was all true, or do you deny the facts that we all know about Kennedy?

As moonpie said, Kennedy had influence whether it was justified or not. In my opinion, it was not justified. Just as many of the politicians with the most power in Washington, Kennedy abused his power.

I knew nothing about Brown before today (when I looked him up, I love the internet). He seems like a good enough guy. And just because EaTn wants to try to take the fact that Brown posed nude once in a magazine long before becoming a politician and try to equate that to Kennedy's lists of transgressions while being in a public office means nothing. That's just the Democrat in him crying over the recent loss.

I, too, wish him well, and wish him wisdom and that he can bring some new ideas to the table. Maybe he will be the senator to actually fight for the American people rather than his own seat like all the current politicians. That's what we need in Washington.

whoknows- you probably didn't read my entire post, for I said jhenry made a valuable point on term limits. Of course we all knew about Ted's problems just like we knew about GW's, but I'm more interested in how they performed in office. All the issues of Brown have been "bared", and I too wish him well. We need someone who will bring a spark of sanity to DC, and who knows, it just may be him.

Whuz chur problem, princehal? Cain' cha reed ur figger?

An equally main point here, moonpie, is that the man's shoes were just like everyone else's...and he put his pants on [when he bothered to wear them] one leg at a time.

There is nothing special about a man whose sole source of money was the ill-gained funds of a simple rum-runner and illegal importer of spirits [nod to canary]. Heavy accent on "simple".

The family's entire fortune was based on illegalities...today, no doubt, the old man would be a coyote or perhaps aspire to be a member of an illegal drug cartel.

If we just measure shoes by the power or influence of their owner then alot of really terrible people have worn big shoes. No, having big shoes to fill means having to live up to a former standard of greatness. I don't mean to unfairly demean Ted Kennedy, I just wonder if he is really a Senator that should be thought of as great. He was senior. He came from a famous and tragic family. But does that mean he was great? I haven't been convinced by anything I have read that his example should be emulated. God rest his soul.

I'll take a guy who posed for risque photos in a women's magazine over one who drove off a bridge and left a young girl to drown any day of the week.... Especially if he helps ObamaCare die a well-deserved death.

I guess that the right-winger's prior favorite " Gun Digest" has been replaced by "Cosmopolitan". Love their latest article: "Scott Brown: Cosmo to Congress." Happy reading.

We all did things at age 21, we would not consider doing today.

A build like that is nothing to be ashamed of...looks like a real chick-magnet.

Did you all see the cover photo on that issue of Cosmo? Dear Leader himself on the beach in all his "glory" -- he could be a stand-in for the famous 98-lb weakling [political as well as physical].

[For yet another comparison, check this one [picture 24 -- scroll down] http://vetocorleone.com/2009/02/12/political-swimsuit-issue-22-photos-of-politicians-in-swimwear/]