Last Lion

In May 2008, John McCain said, “I’ve described Ted Kennedy as the last lion of the Senate…he remains the single most effective member of the Senate if you want to get results.”

That is the origin of the phrase that you hear on radio and  TV as people remember the life of Senator Edward (Ted) M. Kennedy.

Over the next few days, we will all be reminded of the humanity of Sen. Kennedy  and many will damn him with faint praise. We will be reminded of his brothers who died young in an age of great change and we will be  reminded of the Kennedy family’s legacy in America. We may not be reminded of Joseph Kennedy’s love for America that he passed along to all his family. 

When young, each Kennedy was required to work with the poor to teach each Kennedy  a lesson that their life’s work should be to improve the lives of those who have less.

 The wealthy are often flawed and the Kennedy’s were no different than others. Yet if we measure a man by his flaws instead of his life’s effort, we have only measured half the man. 

Let us all look to measure Sen. Kennedy from mane to tail  and then seek to improve ourselves to be more like the best parts of the Last Lion.    

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2 thoughts on “Last Lion

  1. Sen. Kennedy was flawed; there’s no denying that, but who among us isn’t? While some may always associate him with Chappaquiddick, I’ll always remember him for the fights he waged on issues like health care reform, civil rights, and education.

  2. I feel bad for his family. I also still feel bad for the Kopechne family.

    I heard one commentator saying that it was somewhat ironic that Ted Kennedy, one of the most vehement supporters of a public healthcare option, sought to lenghten his life and overcome cancer through the benefits of the current system on his own terms instead of the government’s terms.

    Last week he also wanted to get the law of succession for the Massachusetts U.S. Senate seats changed back to a governor’s appointment rather than a special election by the state legislature. Interesting. He was the one that wanted the special election while Mitt Romney was the governor and John Kerry was running for president back in 2004. Why change it now? Would it have anything to do with the fact that the current governor is a Democrat?

    I have no doubt that Ted Kennedy had all the best intentions in the domestic legislation he championed over his long career in the Senate. However, the results of policies he has endorsed have led to a massive increase in the number of people dependent on entitlements. If a policy has bad results, but good intentions, it is still bad policy.

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