With the passing of Ted Kennedy, we have another week of wall to wall coverage of a celebrity funeral. People race to watch all news stories as if he were a member of their own family. I never quite understood this emotional attachment to someone you don’t even know. Senator Kennedy is just another person who did some good on this earth but also missed out on an opportunity to do even more.
You will hear pundits talking about how great a man Senator Kennedy was and how it is wrong to speak ill of the dead. In some ways that is correct, Ted Kennedy did devote his live to public service and to fighting for the people of his state. However, much of his public service was dedicated to promoting and protecting the Kennedy legacy. With the death of his brothers, Kennedy bore an awesome responsibility the lead the family. Much of it he did with grace and dignity; much of it he did not.
As a man who believes that “all” the vulnerable deserve to be protected, I think that Kennedy missed a great opportunity to shape the moral direction of this country. As a man who’s family was looked up to, respected; one might say worshiped, Ed Kennedy could have used this influence to protect life. He did not. It was not the expediate thing to do. It was not the thing that would keep him at the center of the Democratic party for over 4 decades.
I will not pretend to know the state of his soul at the time of his death. That is not for me to judge. I will indeed keep Sen. Kennedy in my prayers and encourage you to do the same. However, it is also not for me to overlook his flaws and artificially promote him to a level that he does not deserve.
RIP
