Teddy Kennedy - REAL person!
REAL person!
The TRUTH that Edward M. “Ted” Kennedy was a real human being was acknowledged and attested by his oldest child, Teddy Kennedy, Jr. as he testified, “He was not perfect, far from it. But my father believed in redemption and he never surrendered. Never stopped trying to right wrongs, be they the results of his own failings or of ours.”
Teddy share the inspiring testimony of the lesson of PERSISTENCE taught to him by his father as he shared the experience as a 12 year-old of having lost his leg in his battle with bone cancer challenged by a very icy hill with the goal of sledding. Teddy reported, “I slipped and I fell on the ice and I started to cry and I said “I can’t do this.” I said, “I’ll never be able to climb that hill.” And he lifted me in his strong, gentle arms and said something I’ll never forget. He said “I know you’ll do it, there is nothing you can’t do. We’re going to climb that hill together, even if it takes us all day.”
Teddy continued, “Sure enough, he held me around my waist and we slowly made it to the top, and, you know, at age 12 losing a leg pretty much seems like the end of the world, but as I climbed onto his back and we flew down the hill that day I knew he was right. I knew I was going to be OK. You see, my father taught me that even our most profound losses are survivable and it is what we do with that loss, our ability to transform it into a positive event, that is one of my father’s greatest lessons. He taught me that nothing is impossible.”
WOW! Talk about WALK the talk! I must report that the KEY message I got from the whole celebration of Ted Kennedy’s life was that he was a person who truly did WALK the talk! Amazing testimonies of persons who had directly benefits by the ways Ted Kennedy WALKED the talk. I was astounded to learn of the 13 year-old at the US Capitol who testified that US Senator Ted Kennedy was at her elementary school every week to read with her. She had a book which the Senator had given her inscribed, “Your friend, Ted.” An advocate of volunteerism, US Senator Ted Kennedy did truly WALK the talk of volunteerism! NO WONDER the Congress put US Senator Ted Kennedy’s name on the bill identified as “The Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act” which President Obama signed into law on April 21, 2000!
One of the best reports on the celebration of Senator Kennedy's life is Christian Science Monitor’s "Senator Kennedy eulogized by his sons and President Obama"
NOW comes the major challenge of translating into law what Senator Ted Kennedy identified as “the cause of my life” in his speech at the National Democratic Party Convention just over a year ago (August 25, 2009), “And this is the cause of my life -- new hope that we will break the old gridlock and guarantee that every American -- north, south, east, west, young, old -- will have decent, quality health care as a fundamental right and not a privilege.”
The “On Faith” feature which is a conversation on Religion and Politics sponsored by the Washington Post and Newsweek today has an outstanding “Guest Voice” column today entitled,“Honoring Kennedy’s Health Care Legacy” by John Gehring, Senior Writer and Deputy Communications Director for Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good. The gist of this column is that there is a MORAL OBLIGATION in our conviction as Americans and for persons who claim to be “Christian” to the principles of human dignity. He tells about the “40 Days for Health Reform” campaign of the coalition he represents.
Gehring concludes his column asserting, “Faith-based movements have always inspired our nation to live up to its highest ideals. We know that justice and change never come easily. Again, people of faith are on the march, united in the belief that hope is more powerful than fear. I think Sen. Kennedy would be proud.”
I read through the many comments responding to this column with much interest. I urge you to read the whole column and the comments. What is your response? You may want to post a comment with the column on the Washington Post website and/or post your comment with this blog posting. Let us continue the dialog on the ethnical issue of the RIGHT of health care for all Americans!
Here we go…
Mr. E.
John Eyster lives in the Edgerton area. He is an adjunct professor of political science at UW-Waukesha and an advocate for democracy/civics education in Wisconsin high schools. John is a community blogger and is not a part of Janesville Gazette staff. His opinion is not necessarily that of the Janesville Gazette staff or management.
Aug 31, 2009 at 11:56 a.m.
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NVgrf: 2012 Republican Convention
Rush Linbaugh for President
Ann Coulter for V.P.
What a hoot!
Aug 31, 2009 at 11:43 a.m.
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Keyword in the title - "Real", not "God".
Aug 31, 2009 at 11:31 a.m.
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The Late Great Sen. Edward Kennedy just had an "accident" and has been truly forgiven of his actions and has "learned" from his actions, blah, blah, blah....
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Once again, if he was a local yocal on a drunk spree and killed someone, all you defenders of Kennedy, in another blog would throw daggers, spit venom, etc., no matter how nice, constructive citizen, etc., he/she was.
Aug 31, 2009 at 11:25 a.m.
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SuperDave - Too funny!
Aug 31, 2009 at 11 a.m.
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The writings about Senator Kennedy's actions are inspiring! The personal testimonies of his help are moving! The meeting of Senator Kennedy must have be motivating! Yes, he did walk the talk!
Health care for all. Stay in the race even if the odds are against you. Never, never, never, ever quit as Senator Kennedy said.
Aug 31, 2009 at 8:46 a.m.
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The writings about Senator Kennedy's actions are inspiring! The personal testimonies of his help are moving! The meeting of Senator Kennedy must have be motivating! Yes, he did walk the talk!
Health care for all. Stay in the race even if the odds are against you. Never, never, never, ever quit as Senator Kennedy said.
Aug 30, 2009 at 5:53 p.m.
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andre.....You folks got a good dose of who the American people support in the last election. And it certainly was not the far left that put President Obama in office. The Democratic party today is pretty much what the Republican party was not too many years ago. The reality is that the Republican party has moved so far right as to be slightly west of Attila the Hun.
Aug 30, 2009 at 4:43 p.m.
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Who the heck is this Mr. E anyway? He sounds like a DNC wanna-be or maybe practicing up for the Puffington Host. Whatever you thought about Kennedy’s accomplishments, he was just a man, and an awfully flawed one at that. He is not a good candidate for deification and will certainly never attain sainthood.
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Mr. E also better be careful, because Obama is a jealous god and does not like people worshipping false idols. I think he can consider himself off O’s “favourite fawning journalists” list.
Aug 30, 2009 at 4:08 p.m.
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Democratic leadership made a fatal error, as it had already been funded for months to come E-Verify. The public eye and anti-illegal immigration groups became instantly aware of its special use. An outcry to Washington caused a re-emergence of this utility and now is firmly placed as a workable tool. Further innovations and technical progress--MUST--be made available and reasonable appropriations to modify its accessibility for the most fundamental PC operative? As time goes by, as all new computer programs bugs and errors will be removed and new versions will appear. A few Eastern states have made it fully functioning, while rebel states as California--a Sanctuary illegal immigrant state--is defying its use. Through voluntary now, over time it could cause mass evacuation of illegal labor from the workplace as by "Attrition". Millions will surely give up as employers will live under a dark cloud of penalties and return slowly to their home country.
The 1986 (IRCA) immigration act is very potent and is currently under attack by unions, ACLU, US Chamber of Commerce, as is E-Verify, 287 G, the border fence and anything that smells of enforcement. Corporate entities--COMMAND--unparalleled cheap labor with no restriction, which has been honored by certain unethical politicians who do not represent the majority of the jobless public. Years of inactivity by unethical politicians caused the immigration mess in the first place. So the old adage stands its ground even today, “You made this bed, so now you have to sleep in it"? President Obama is going to try and insist on pushing through another immigration reform, but we cannot let this happen. He should build on the 1986 immigration reform, add amendments and stop the OVERPOPULATION of this country. Do the calculations yourselves of the trillions of dollars used--OVER THE YEARS--to cater to foreign national workers, their families in education, hospitals and the penal environment.
Speed up a--POINTS SYSTEM--for top of the pinnacle highly skilled workers, but no more hosting millions of indigent foreign labor and families, who become public welfare charges. We must assure that all American workers are gainfully employed, not individuals who have no right to be in our country? It makes me sick to see veterans of Korea, Viet-Nam, the Gulf war walking the streets homeless, while illegal immigrants get gratification from employers and lawmakers. WE CANNOT NO LONGER SUPPORT ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS. OUR COUNTRY IS NEAR BANKRUPTCY. DEMAND E-VERIFY TO CHECK THE IMMIGRATION STATUS FOR EVERY WORKER IN THE US AT 202-224-3121. VOTERS SHOULD COMMEND NO MORE WEAKENING OF ANY LAWS INCLUDING 1986 (IRCA) IMMIGRATION CONTROL & REFORM ACT. JOIN NUMBERSUSA, JUDICIAL WATCH AND BE STUNNED HOW MILLIONS OF VOICES HAVE MADE A DIFFERENCE.
Aug 30, 2009 at 4:07 p.m.
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SICK AND TIRED OF NOT HAVING A VOICE IN IMMIGRATION & HEALTH CARE?
No Independent voter can agree on all issues that we are confronted in this 21 century of the United States? The demise of liberal minded Edward Kennedy demands every American respect and sincere condolences for his long and arduous battle for political reforms in our government. Even though I am a great believer in a Senators public option to Health care, I am adamantly--OPPOSED--to any path to citizenship for illegal immigrants he also endorsed. But alas Health care and illegal immigration are joined a the proverbial hip and must be separated. In 1985 immigration bill Sen. Kennedy assured the American people, that another AMNESTY would--NEVER--be enacted in future sessions of Congress. He was after all one of the principal authors of the Simpson/Mazzoli bill, in which he committed himself to all of the American public.
Once again we will be confronting this major dilemma on immigration reform, mainly because over many administrations immigration enforcement was never carried out. Over these decades lax policies have caused a massive overload of foreigners, who compromised themselves by not following the law, but are not entirely to blame? The awful fact is that the 1986 legislation was under funded and engineered for the particular business sector, unions, church, specialized attorneys and radical minority organizations by certain politicians. Since than the costs have been magnified, parallel to the--TRILLIONS--spent on nation building wars. At least 20 million illegal immigrants now reside in America, and decades of neglect, has swollen the numbers that in future years will undoubtedly cause irreversible overpopulation as analyzed by the US Census Bureau?
Trying to deport so many people is a possibility and a very expensive proposition. But their is another avenue that could be used, with equal success and not costing anywhere near using a forced deportation? We must demand from our rogue lawmakers in Washington to introduce a mandated, funded E-Verify? We know it works well because Special interest groups have used their influence to derail it. In the courts they have resuscitated racial profiling, including that it was faulty in its operation. The cure is simple--plaintiffs should go to the local Social Security office for straightening out irregularities. Until now we didn't realize its power to perform and remove illegal immigrants from the work floor and therefore our government should make it available to every employer under the penalty of fines and prison. BEFORE ANY NEW WORKER IS HIRED, THEY SHOULD BE GIVEN AN E-VERIFICATION FORM WARNING THEM OF USING BOGUS ID AND A LEGAL FORM TO SIGN UNDER THE PENALTY OF PERJURY IN MAJOR FOREIGN LANGUAGES. EACH BUSINESS MUST BE MANDATED TO DISPLAY AN E-VERIFY NOTICE. THEIR SHOULD BE A REWARD TO WORKERS, WHO CORRECTLY REPORTS ILLEGAL LABOR ACTIVITY TO ICE.
Aug 30, 2009 at 2:33 p.m.
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No, Ted Kennedy wasn't perfect. But he did do something many of us won't or ever be able to do. And that was to fight for many of our rights/freedoms we have today. I'm sure he has always remembered his drunk driving accident. I'm sure God has forgiven him. If some haven't, that's their burden. Some call him a drunk, who knows. I believed he learned from his mistake. I can't imagine all the perfect people out there who point fingers at anyone that has made a mistake or two..... We all have our opinions and I think that's great, I really do. From what I have heard/read and watched about Ted Kennedy, though he may have been rich, not the perfect personn, he still fought for us to have a better life. Doesn't matter what anyone thinks, it's a fact. He didn't have to do it, he wanted to and loved to. God Bless Teddy!
Aug 30, 2009 at 1:18 p.m.
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Though I did not agree with all of Senator Kennedy's politics, I respected him for several reasons. For one, he stood by his believes with passion and vigor. Secondly, he was not afraid to reach across the aisle to negotiate and get something done. As far as health care, I'm fine with everyone having access to some type of health care insurance as long as the government isn't running it and it doesn't raise our deficit.
Aug 30, 2009 at 11:10 a.m.
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NVgrf - those "right wing Janesville nuts blogging", are the ones who are upset that people like Kennedy took our hard earned legal salaries and gave them to families of illegal immigrants. Who Kennedy was as a person is not my beef as not everyone is perfect. My beef is his assualt on hard working Americans by taking their hard earned money, and giving it to somebody else. He was the biggest champion of income redistribution. He had no worries as he had all of the money he needed when he was born.
Aug 30, 2009 at 10:37 a.m.
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History, not the far right wing Janesville blogging nut jobs, will judge Edward Kennedy. We have lost a great American leader.
Aug 30, 2009 at 7:14 a.m.
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Do we need ANOTHER poorly WRITTEN diatribe about Ted KENNEDY written by the same PERSON? And this one to MAKE the point that TED Kennedy was actually a real person (and here I always thought he was an autotron) or WHATEVER?!? I started reading the comments, and was LAUGHING at how the first author was doing a SPOT-ON imitation of Eyster, THEN realized that THE comment was written BY Eyster HIMSELF. WOW, I SEEM TO BE HAVING THE SAME PROBLEM AS HE DOES WITH THE CAPS LOCK KEY.
Aug 30, 2009 at 6:16 a.m.
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John, "decent, quality health care as a fundamental right"? How is it a "right"? Is it our right to eat, drink, and smoke ourselves to death? Why shouldn't decent, quality health care be earned just like everything else in America? Why do we think just because we live in America we are entitled? Our fundamental rights are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Pursuit John, not free handouts.
Aug 30, 2009 at 5:56 a.m.
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I felt compelled to post my comment re. the "On Faith" column on the Washington Post's website. Here is my comment: "THANK YOU for expressing the MORAL IMPERATIVE which Senator Ted Kennedy asserted! I KNOW we MUST fulfill this MORAL IMPERATIVE or we 'SIN'! Together we are called to accountability/responsibility to this MORAL IMPERATIVE by James' admonition in his letter - 'Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins.' (NIV translation, The Letter of James, New Testament, The Bible) God guide, encourage, help and bless us! Mr. E., 'We the People' blogger, The Janesville Gazette (WI).
Posted by: jweyster1 | August 30, 2009 6:11 AM"
Here we go... Mr. E.
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