Whatever floats your boat...

Goodbye Camelot.

Rest In Peace Edward Kennedy.

Comment by photo2010 on August 27, 2009 at 3:24am: I was in 8th grade when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. While he was still President, I wrote to the Whitehouse and asked for an autographed picture of JFK and his wife, I was sent the photo with a letter on Whitehouse stationary thanking me for my request. I have since misplaced them unfortunately. When JFK was killed, we were sent home. I was very angry. His brother, Robert Kennedy, gave the country a feeling of a second chance at 'Camelot', shattered of course when he was assassinated. Ted Kennedy lost hopes of becoming President in the tragedy of Chappaquiddick, and the death of Mary Jo Kopechne.
I don't know why I and millions of other people are fascinated with the lives of the Kennedy family. Maybe because they seemed to grab onto life in a way that we envied or admired. No they were not perfect, but they were, are, larger than life. They also did help people of little or no privilege. All I know is, i felt a sense of comfort that has been seriously chipped away with each loss.

Comment by Chig on August 27, 2009 at 8:32pm: :-( Bummer.

I think the closest thing we came to having a great individual in the White House inside my lifetime can be seen in the Johnathan Demme film "Man from Plains". The true character of an individual is not often demonstrated, except through the course of an entire life. I am not saying this is a great President, but a great Human. My point is that there is far more value in being a human being than a president. So some may take comfort in that.

Comment by photo2010 on August 28, 2009 at 3:18am: Deborah, thank you. Throughout his career, Senator Kennedy fought for affordable healthcare for all, and was an advocate for the disabled, and other 'invisible' members of society. I, and millions of other Americans, would be far worse off were it not for his efforts.

Comment by NatureJunkie on August 28, 2009 at 2:07pm: "Goodbye Camelot," indeed. I will miss his presence in the Senate, but his death represents so much more to people of my generation. I'm sure the Kennedy presence in politics will continue for a while with various children and grandchildren of the Kennedy brothers seeking offices, but the brothers themselves are all gone now, and it's the end of an era that never got to be.

Comment by photo2010 on August 28, 2009 at 9:33pm: NJ, I would love to see Caroiine Kennedy run for office, not sure why she dropped out last year.

Comment by Chig on August 29, 2009 at 9:19pm: @rams.... Not a great president....a great human. It was not so much what he did in four years, (unless you are Panamanian) but rather what he has done since... That was the point. Just as Ted or Bobby should be better judged as a humans, and those things they did to help or hinder others. It is not so tragic to not see them as elected presidents, in that light. On occasion the Kennedy's did champion causes for those in need.

Every President since Carter has been a special kind of slimy soulless whore while in office, including the current one. Intelligence does not equate to decency.

Comment by photo2010 on August 29, 2009 at 10:24pm: @rams, did I say she WAS running for office? No, I said I would like to see her run for office. As far as her lack of experience, Bush had experience..lot of good it did us.

Comment by photo2010 on August 29, 2009 at 10:58pm: Some of Senator Kennedy's accomplishments:
"Providing Resources for Medical Research
As a longtime champion of biomedical research, Senator Kennedy was the sponsor of the
National Institutes of Health (NIH) Revitalization Act of 1993 and its reauthorization in 2003,
which included more than 20 titles directing the NIH to undertake research and conduct studies on
various diseases and conditions including AIDS, breast and ovarian cancer, osteoporosis and bone
disorders, contraception and infertility, and prostate cancer. The law also provided legislative
authority for various activities, such as the National Center for Human Genome Research, the
Office of Minority Health, and the Office of Research on Women’s Health. The bill permanently
lifted the ban on federally funded fetal tissue transplantation research and authorized the NIH to conduct such research, created an Office of AIDS Research whose director would disburse all AIDS-related funding to the institutes, and required the NIH to convene an Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Use of Animals in Research."

For a more complete listing of his good work, pdf link here: http://kennedy.senate.gov/newsroom/press_release.cfm?id=AE8E3C6A-2D87-4445-B556-24664E324B1A