Senator Edward "Ted" Kennedy Dead at Age 77

"We've lost the irreplaceable center of our family and joyous light in our lives, but the inspiration of his faith, optimism, and perseverance will live on in our hearts forever," the statement said. "We thank everyone who gave him care and support over this last year, and everyone who stood with him for so many years in his tireless march for progress toward justice, fairness and opportunity for all."

Senator Kennedy, the youngest of the nine children of Joseph and Rose Kennedy, served for nearly 50 years in the Senate, championing the cause of the worker and the poor. He was the torch-bearer for the liberal political viewpoint and we can hear his vision for this great country that he loved in his words. They are words that were appropriate in 1983 and for the difficult times we share together now.

"The great adventures which our opponents offer is a voyage into the past. Progress is our heritage, not theirs. What is right for us as Democrats is also the right way for Democrats to win.

The commitment I seek is not to outworn views but to old values that will never wear out. Programs may sometimes become obsolete, but the ideal of fairness always endures. Circumstances may change, but the work of compassion must continue. It is surely correct that we cannot solve problems by throwing money at them, but it is also correct that we dare not throw out our national problems onto a scrap heap of inattention and indifference. The poor may be out of political fashion, but they are not without human needs. The middle class may be angry, but they have not lost the dream that all Americans can advance together."

Perhaps we need to ask some questions on the death of such a valuable American. Do Americans still have the dream that we can all advance together? Are the poor and needy out of fashion in a world that thinks capitalism has all the answers and where people trust corporate businessmen more than their freely elected government?

For many Americans, Ted Kennedy, the last surviving son of our most famous American "royal" dynasty represented the hope of what we could achieve, despite overwhelming odds. The tragedies and griefs of this powerful American family were shared by all of us in tears and sorrow through the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and their brother Robert Kennedy. Through is all, Senator Edward Kennedy survived to carry on his families legacy.

Our current president spoke of this legacy in a comment from Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, an area long associated with the Kennedy family.

"An important chapter in our history has come to an end. Our country has lost a great leader, who picked up the torch of his fallen brothers and became the greatest United States Senator of our time," Obama said.

Edward Kennedy was elected to the Senate in 1962, with his brother, John, in the White House. Through the years, he worked on every major piece of social legislation to come out of Congress, always working tirelessly for the poor and working class of America.
In his words, the work was always about fulfilling the Camelot hopes of his brother, John F. Kennedy.

"For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives and the dream shall never die."

As the third-longest-serving senator in Senate history, he was diagnosed with a brain cancer in May of 2008, survived surgery and chemotherapy to spend his last year on earth, surrounded by the large extended family of Kennedy children and offspring. He was their patriarch, the leader of a widespread clan that includes nephews and nieces of his brother's slain children. He continued to work for the causes he believed in, endorsing current President Barack Obama, in January of 2008.

" With Barack Obama, we will turn the page on the old politics of misrepresentation and distortion. With Barack Obama we will close the book on the old politics of race against race, gender against gender, ethnic group against ethnic group, and straight against gay."

Again, we have to look at our country and ask some questions. Was Kennedy's vision one that most Americans shared? Will we close the book on old hatreds, old battles of race and gender, ethnic groups and moral divisions?

Edward, "Ted", Kennedy was a Kennedy orator and his eloquent words speak of those hopes and dreams. Perhaps his most impassioned plea is the one that he gave in Lynchburg, Virginia in 1983, 26 years ago.

"The more our feelings diverge, the more deeply felt they are, the greater is our obligation to grant the sincerity and essential decency of our fellow citizens on the other side. . . .

In short, I hope for an America where neither "fundamentalist" nor "humanist" will be a dirty word, but a fair description of the different ways in which people of good will look at life and into their own souls.

I hope for an America where no president, no public official, no individual will ever be deemed a greater or lesser American because of religious doubt -- or religious belief.

I hope for an America where the power of faith will always burn brightly, but where no modern inquisition of any kind will ever light the fires of fear, coercion, or angry division.

I hope for an America where we can all contend freely and vigorously, but where we will treasure and guard those standards of civility which alone make this nation safe for both democracy and diversity."

This hope is a hope that I share with this great man and today, I mourn him passing and pray for our country that we will be able to hold onto the dreams of Senator Edward Kennedy, as he spent his entire life, attempting to make those dreams become reality.

The words above are wise words that consider our divisions and offers respect for each other as the guiding principle in moving forward. The heated and inflammatory rhetoric of the hate mongers amongst us, extreme liberal and conservative voices that rise shrill in their language and their anger should be ignored as we seek to come to the table of peace and hope that Ted Kennedy believed in. It is no secret that he was able to build the kinds of coalitions between left and right, Republican and Democrat that demonstrated how the Congress of the United State should work. Let us pray for our current bunch of leaders that they take a lesson from the Kennedy and McCain playbook and work together to solve our current set of problems; healthcare reform, climate change, energy crisis and economic stability.

We can eulogize Senator Edward Kennedy with the same loving words that he spoke at the funeral of his own murdered brother, Robert F. Kennedy in June of 1968.

"My brother need not be idealized or enlarged in death beyond what he was in life, to be remembered as a good and decent man, who saw wrong and tried to right it, saw suffering and tried to heal it, saw war and tried to stop it.

Those of us who loved him and who take him to his rest today, pray that what he was to us and what he wished for others will some day come to pass for all the world."

This was a great and honorable man and I shall mourn him today, along with countless other Americans who agree with his vision for what we can become.

Resources:

- http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32491712

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-naw-ted-kennedy-quotes26-2009aug26,0,3918428.story