Ted Kennedy died at 77 from brain cancer. While conservatives may very well be dancing on the streets (or, more likely, there will be the predictable false claims that he was universally loved) or laughing along with Limbaugh, as a die-hard progressive who grew up in a family for which the Kennedy name was spoken in reference, I will be mourning. He was a great liberal champion--of labor and of health-care. At this point, I would like to see President Obama tell the Dems in both the house and the senate to go back, start the health-care reform bill over from scratch, and pass the bill that Kennedy would have wanted to see pass. That would functionally be Medicare-for-all (or at least all who want it).
I’m rather tired of the Democratic party pussy-footing about this trying to figure out which way to go. Write a truly liberal health-care reform package, understanding that with the possible exception of Snowe and Collins of Maine, it is vanishingly improbable that the President will get any Republican votes. So if you know that no matter what you do, with the exception of doing nothing, that the GOP is going to vote ‘no’ why even bother pretending that they’ll behave differently? Kennedy, who has worked around these yahoos since before I was born, understood this. I wish more Democrats in Congress understood it as well as he did.
Meme (n): an element of a culture or system of behavior that may be considered to be passed from one individual to another by nongenetic means, esp. imitation.
1 comment:
It is a sad day, indeed.
What most impressed me about Senator Kennedy was his unfailing ability to seek and find common ground. Perhaps some claims that he was universally loved may be false, but it cannot be overstated that his personal and professional relationships transcended partisanship and sought the common good. Kennedy's deep and long-standing friendship with Sen. Hatch of Utah, who is by no means moderate in his conservatism, invigorated my hope that those with differing views can come together to do what is right.
Vice President Biden's remarks today (embedded at Stranger link below) were incredibly touching.
http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2009/08/26/he-never-was-petty-he-never-was-small
We lost a great one. I am cautiously hopeful that his colleagues will approach health care reform in such a way that honors his memory.
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