I think RFK had the dream but Ted's work made that dream come true. Of course RFK's dream was a nightmare to entrenched interests, which may be why he was assasinated.

This was sooooooooooooo predictable. And they haven't waited a moment, either. (Desperation!)

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/TedKennedy/story…

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2009/08/pas…

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-scher/yes-ge…

I also want to note CStanley's comment, which I thought was very classy.

As was said earlier, RIP. And, he took his best party-related tales to the grave.

(Now he can share competing party tales with the likes of Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley. [grin])

Chappaquiddick alone didn't sink Kennedy. He was a leader among the Dems in the 1970s and sometimes during the 1980s, too.

And he does have a record of action and activism and results related to vast expansion of the role and place of the federal government, and of entitlements (adding to the legacy of the 1930s and 1960s), as some saner people on local Detroit metro radio noted when discussing the man earlier today.

The _liberal_ lion. (“We're off to see the Wizard. [hiccup]“)

* This was not surprising, and as I said earlier, the awarding of the medal by Obama as a likely sign of increasing anticipation of his impending death.

* This is also not that big a deal, given that Kennedy's best and most important years were long ago, from the 1960s into the 1980s. He was sunk not only by Chappaquiddick by in 1980 by Carter and by the public reaching its limit with so much liberalism. Kennedy in the 1980s then doomed himself for future White House consideration by going with the far left, such as with the [anti-US-Western] “nuclear freeze” [disarmament and appeasement and anti-nuclear idiocy in general].

* Lefty talk radio like silly Stephanie Miller (childish and ditzy) promptly said that this more than ever is “why” we “need” to see the Dem health care effort passed. Non-lefty talk radio, instead, insisted on being factual and looking at the man's entire history and putting it into correct perspective.

* Christopher Matthews made an idiot of himself again. He referred to Obama (in the context of liberalism and the health care entitlement crusade) as the “last [Kennedy] brother.”

* Sadness over his death, and sympathy, will be exploited as another emotional appeal to get the health care effort passed.

* Most important now is who replaces him. Someone noteworthy in Washington now among lib Dems from Washington, Barney Frank, is the obvious leader for consideration. However, moving him to the Senate means a loss of not only his seat in the House but more importantly, what he has been doing as a leader among the liberal Dems in the House, where all the Congressional action of note is. Hence it may be someone else like Deval Patrick or someone chosen by Patrick (or by others in the government of Massachusetts) who makes the decision, or final decision. (Who knows — with the Dems, it could easily be Representative Patrick Kennedy from Rhode Island who takes the MA Senate seat, or, say, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend.)

Senator Kennedy did have a lasting effect upon our country and was always a champion of those who had no representation. Forty-seven years of public service is a lifetime– and he was able to work with the opposition more effectively than just about anyone else in the Senate.

Emo – I prayed for a long time that his state would not vote for him, so we could stop all the asinine legislation he was drafting to give amnesty to lawbreakers. He might as well have put up billboards all across Mexico and South America…… “Come to America, where you will not be prosecuted if you kill someone in a car accident.” If you know anything about illegals, they do get away with murder in America, with or without a drivers license!