Forum -- Sen. Kennedy

ggevalt's picture
Submitted by ggevalt on Wed, 08/26/2009 - 1:31am



Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., died early this morning, Wednesday Aug. 26. He was 77 and had been struggling with brain cancer.How does Kennedy's death affect you? What do you know of the Kennedys and their impact on this country? Start a discussion below.

Connect to some of the news that is listed on the right sidebar. Or go to the Boston Globe: http://www.boston.com/news/obituaries/senator_kennedy/ Then give your opinion below.

For us in the graying set, this is a big deal. For lots of reasons: He was the youngest of the Kennedy brothers; I still remember clearly the days when his brothers were assassinated. He was a powerful leader in the U.S. Senate, and his death could impact the health care legislation now before Congress. He was a man who was always shadowed by the bizarre death of a young woman he was with on a hot summer night on a small island off Cape Cod 40 years ago this month.

What do you think?

greenie's picture

GG

Submitted by greenie on Sat, 09/05/2009 - 9:28pm.

I actually am a little interested, if you care to share. I've been trying to piece together the story, but haven't gotten a version that I can... rely upon? Not that you're not biased, but I'd like to hear an interpretation, if you will.

ggevalt's picture

Kennedy...

Submitted by ggevalt on Fri, 09/04/2009 - 11:40am.

So far in all the reading I've done on Kennedy, his death and his legacy, I've only seen one reference to the belief that his story about the drowning of Mary Jo Kopechne was, in fact, false. The reference, by the way, was in the New Yorker.

I've long held the belief that, sadly, Kennedy made up that far-fetched story of diving in repeatedly to save her that night when he might have been better off telling what I belief was the truth: That he wasn't in the car when it went off the bridge.

I won't bore you with my interpretation of the saga which is based on way too much time spent on it to satisfy my own curiosity about his story which had facts that seemed to contradict each other or to make no sense whatsoever. If there is anyone out there who has interest in this, I'd be happy to share.

But for the most part, it remains a part of his history that will never be reconciled, that somehow he was part of or caused the death of a young woman. It changed his history and the shape of American politics.
gg

Uncle Teddy

Submitted by LadyJane on Fri, 09/04/2009 - 8:57am.

As a teenage entering politics I lost one of the last Congressmembers I had any respect for in the joint-chambers. His death is deeply felt in my soul.

falling.slowly's picture

Family Ties

Submitted by falling.slowly on Tue, 09/01/2009 - 11:11am.

The Kennedy family and my mom's family are actually pretty closely intertwined...my mom's parents used to double-date with Bobby Kennedy and his then-wife. My grandfather actually performed Sen. Kennedy's second marriage-he was a judge. On a trip to Washington a few years back, he was able to give us a private tour of the Capitol. I know my grandmother took it pretty hard (the fact that he died), and we all felt the effects of his death. For my family at least, this was more than just losing a senator, it was losing a close family friend.

Kennedy

Submitted by alexwg on Tue, 09/01/2009 - 7:27am.

i dont care he died.

g

Submitted by Sanderson420 on Tue, 09/01/2009 - 7:25am.

hey

Fictilia's picture

I'm doing a bloggy bit about

Submitted by Fictilia on Wed, 08/26/2009 - 1:08pm.

I'm doing a bloggy bit about this!

--Iggy.

MM's picture

Sen. Kennedy

Submitted by MM on Wed, 08/26/2009 - 12:20pm.

I helped organize a small public healthcare rally this morning that ended up being more for the memory of Senator Kennedy than anything. We got lots of honks at 5 corners in Essex Junction. :)

MM