Like most readers, I would never trade places with Kennedy
By Joe Guzzardi
Typically, when we learn that someone has terminal cancer our thoughts and prayers go out to him.
In the case of Edward M. Kennedy, our emotions are more complicated.
Kennedy is on our minds, for sure. But although we are compassionate, how much any of us may be praying for Kennedy varies widely.
I’m taking a dispassionate view. Cancer is a scourge, an ugly way to die.
But, putting aside his cataclysmic moral failings and the murder in full public view of his two brothers, Kennedy has lived a wonderful life.
At age 76, Kennedy has already exceeded the average life span for American males. And unlike his brothers, he will die from natural causes. Time has somewhat obscured the shady details of how Kennedy became a senator. Allow me to refresh your memory.
In 1960 when John Kennedy was elected President of the United States, he vacated his Massachusetts Senate seat.
Ted, then only 28, would not be eligible to fill his brother’s position until February 22, 1962, when he would turn thirty.
Shamelessly working behind the scenes on Ted’s behalf, the President-elect asked then Massachusetts Governor Foster Furcolo to appoint Kennedy family friend Benjamin A. Smith II to fill out his term citing the authority granted under the 17th Constitutional amendment and Massachusetts law.
Completely understood by all parties was that Smith would not run for re-election.
This maneuver held the Senate seat open for Ted until he could be duly nominated in a special election held two years later. And, as he had promised, Smith did not run.
The rest, as they say, is history. Re-elected eight times, Kennedy is now the second most senior Senator.
Kennedy’s 1962 opponent Edward McCormack, then Massachusetts attorney general, spoke perhaps the most insightful line ever, still memorable today: “If your name was simply Edward Moore instead of Edward Moore Kennedy, your candidacy would be a joke.” [The Ascent of Ted Kennedy, Time Magazine, January 10, 1969
A few years further down life’s road, Kennedy’s wealth, fame and connections allowed him, infamously and unjustly, to avoid a vehicular manslaughter charge related to Mary Jo Kopechne’s tragic death. Kennedy’s plea to a lesser charge of leaving the scene of an accident resulted in a suspended sentence.
Summing up, Kennedy has had it way better than most—vast amounts of money, power and all the trappings that go with it.
I’m speaking of material things, of course. Like most readers, I would never trade places with Kennedy.
To us, Kennedy will always be the worst of the bad guys.
http://www.vdare.com/guzzardi/080530_kennedy.htm