Kennedy Dies
Cancer finally claimed him:
CAPE COD, Mass.—Sen. Edward Moore Kennedy, the youngest Kennedy brother who was left to head the family’s political dynasty after his brothers President John F. Kennedy and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy were assassinated, has died at age 77.
Known as the “liberal lion of the Senate,” Kennedy championed health care reform, working wages and equal rights in his storied career. In August, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom—the nation’s highest civilian honor—by President Obama. His daughter, Kara Kennedy, accepted the award on his behalf.
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, known as Ted or Teddy, was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor in May 2008 and underwent a successful brain surgery soon after that. But his health continued to deteriorate, and Kennedy suffered a seizure while attending the luncheon following President Barack Obama’s inauguration.
For Kennedy, the ascension of Obama was an important step toward realizing his goal of health care reform.
At the Democratic National Convention in August 2008, the Massachusetts Democrat promised, “I pledge to you that I will be there next January on the floor of the United States Senate when we begin the great test.”
Sen. Kennedy made good on that pledge, but ultimately lost his battle with cancer.
While the general rule is that you mourn even the staunchest of your enemies, I find no sadness in the death of Ted Kennedy. And I cannot find any kind words for the killer of Chappaquidick. I hope that in his final hours he begged for forgiveness for his sins, and I pray that he found it. But Kennedy is now off to meet his maker, and to attone for his role in leaving a poor woman to drown as he went home to sleep comfortably.
May the creator be kinder to his worthless creation than Kennedy was to Mary jo Kopechne at Chappaquidick.
