Rec'd for a legend.

Thank God for Ted Kennedy. The Liberal Lion lives to roar again. We are so truly blessed to have an advocate like him in the Senate.

I saw the speech too.  I'm sorry, I have a different opinion than yours.  

He is an icon.  He is our last, first-hand link to that time, and that group of amazing people.

I hope that he goes on at least another 5 years.

I pray for that.

And I will cry on the day that he passes.

-Stipes

That speech was an incredibly courageous thing to do. People don't realize the half of it.

My dad died of the same kind of tumor, in the same place. One of the first areas of the brain to be affected are those governing speech and language. My dad fought it: first the crossword puzzles he used to complete with ease became beyond his reach, then his natural eloquence eluded him and his speech became halting and uncertain. At the end, he could only communicate with his eyes and hope to mask the frustration.

It was a painful thing to see an articulate and eloquent man like my father succomb to this particular disease: it seemed especially unfair.

To see Teddy, such a powerful orator and persuasive communicator all his life, stand before millions of people and stand up to his illness knowing that it would effect his delivery, and give a speech -- that speech -- in support of Barack Obama.... it's beyond inspiring.

and thanks for the WONDERUL pictures!

Progressive Blue

Chis I don't know if this will surprise you or not but when John Kennedy was murdered tears flowed in many Canadian homes and I imagine around the world too.

I had the incredible opportunity to meet and interview Senator Kennedy several months ago (shortly before his illness).  I've posted some of that interview to YouTube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbOI6JEaF ZE

As a Southerner who grew up in Virginia during the days of segregation and "massive resistance", I've always been angered at the Kennedys' claims to be the "keepers of the dream"

Is anyone troubled by the fact that Teddy's grandest tribute tonight was to JFK's "getting us to the moon?", and to the supposed imprint of the American flag on the lunar surface? This is the kind of poetic grandeur that the Kennedys have built their name on, while shying away from the nitty-gritty of creating lasting change.

You won't hear the name of Lyndon Baines Johnson memorialized at this week's Democratic convention. LBJ was a big, sometimes awkward and clumsy Southerner, and he didn't have a Pepsodent smile. He would have been 100 this year, and many of us loved him dearly. I'm going to the LBJ library in Austin next week for a centennial celebration of his life, and of what he gave to this country.

In a nutshell, John Kennedy felt that Civil Rights would have jeopardized his reelecton, and therefore "would have to wait" until after the 1964 election. And he instructed Bobby to table any further discussions; Presidential historians from Michael Beshchloss to Stephen Ambrose are agreed on this fact. John Kennedy would not risk losing the "solid South" of Democratic states in his reelection bid. That's why there was no Civil Rights Bill sent to the Congress between 1961 and 1964.

Lyndon Johnson got Civil Rights legislation done in 4 months, telling Congress, "we SHALL overcome". And he did it. (In the wake of a national tragedy, he didn't tell people to go shopping...) He sacrificed the friendship of his fellow Southern Democratic Senators, who turned him down cold on Civil Rights. But in the last real example of bipartisanship, he swallowed his pride, and went to Republican leader Everett Dirksen to help him pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and one year later, the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

I am sorry for the pain and tragedy the Kennedys have suffered over the years. But the reality is that they have few lasting accomplishments which have altered the course of our history. It's a scandal that a big--and somewhat awkward--great man named Lyndon Baines Johnson will be ignored by this year's Democrats.