I am astonished that anyone in the Bay State would roll their eyes at me when I spoke of the tragedy that is Ted Kennedy’s brain tumor.
“Are you kidding?’’ one Kennedy-hater asked. “How can you say he is a friend to the working class?”
There are a plethora of reasons.
Some of you might have spent this gorgeous weekend on Cape Cod, enjoying forty miles of the most beautiful stretches of seashore in the nation. The state park that is the Cape Cod National Seashore was preserved from becoming an eyesore of McMansions without public access to the water (like the Hamptons in New York) because of the Kennedy clan. John F. Kennedy established the public beaches in 1961, and his brother has worked hard to protect the seaside legacy for 46 years.
Then there’s the fact that Kennedy has consistently done battle to protect the pocketbooks of scores labor unions members who are hurting because of the construction slow-down. This month, Kennedy fought to extend unemployment benefits.
"There seems to be no end in sight for the barrage of bad news for working families," Kennedy said on the floor. "This recession continues to cost American their jobs, their homes and their savings and Republican opposition is blocking them from the relief they urgently need."
Consider this: years before Massachusetts was facing gas prices of $4 a gallon, Ted Kennedy was lashing out at the White House saying, “We need to do something about gas prices.”
Kennedy even stuck up for the Patriots last week, saying Pennsylvania Republic Arlen Specter has better things to do in Congress than investigate the so-called spygate scandal.
"With the war in Iraq raging on, gasoline prices closing in on $4 a gallon, and Americans losing their homes at record rates to foreclosure, the United States Senate should be focusing on the real problems that Americans are struggling with," Kennedy said in a statement. "I'm looking forward to another great Patriots season where they can let their play on the field speak for itself."
What happened in Chappaquidick was inexcusable, but certainly no one can argue that Kennedy has not made amends for that incident that took place decades ago. I dare anyone to deny a messy personal life or a drunken mistake. Kennedy is not bilking the taxpayers for the lease on gas-guzzling Caddy like his fellow Democratic lawmaker Charles Rangle or hooking up with $1000-an-hour hookers like Elliot Spitzer.
Kennedy has served the public for his entire life. He could have abandoned the fight long ago, kicked back at his family’s Hyannisport estate, boarded his schooner and sipped lemonade enjoying the Cape Cod seashore that he helped save long ago.
