The Kennedy family is a role model for public service.   Ted Kennedy was a champion of the  common person..  Some of the very people he helped are rejoicing in his death. 

The country has suffered a severe blow with the loss of this great humanitarian leader. 

I find myself turning the tv to the cooking channel .  It is soothing to watch the Barefoot Contessa  cooking up such good food.  It makes it seem that all is right with the world and I aspire to nothing more joining her for dinner.

I think I will call my elected representative and remind them of who they should be.

America has lost a great man and a wonderful politician. His tireless endeavors on behalf of the American people will be a great loss. 

My condolences to his family and friends and to the entire nation as we morn the loss of one of our best citizens.

Last night we lost a man who tried to make the world a better place and he did that.

Senator Ted Kennedy waged many a battle for the rights of all of us and last night he fought his last battle.

He will be remembered as a man who championed the cause of the ordinary person and we all are ordinary.

Rest in Peace Senator Kennedy, you have earned your rest.

The passion of his life:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrJVbCzJH6c

Rest in Peace Ted Kennedy.

The only sorrow that should be felt is that you never got the chance to vote for health care this year. Your life should be celebrated.

Now that you cant, there will be many of us that will follow your lead and get health care reform passed for the betterment of America. 

There have been so many injustices in America perpetrated by some Americans against other Americans.  Many political leaders beginning with the Articles of Confederation and before have served to correct some of those injustices.

John Kennedy sought solutions through persuasion and in a Lincolnesque way of appealing to  "our better angels of nature".

Robert Kennedy was prepared to shove solutions down our throat if that is what it took to correct historical wrongs.

Edward Kennedy spent his political life in attempting to ‘right wrongs’ via legislation …  a la President Lyndon Johnson.  He also accepted the call of the Democratic Party in the 1970s to move their political aspirations further to the political Left.  He led that struggle successfully until William Jefferson Clinton gained the Presidency with a shift to the Center.  It is through Senator Kennedy’s efforts that some portion of the successful campaign and election of President Obama was achieved.  The party once again is moving further Left.  What will be the outcome?  Ted Kennedy will be remembered for his success in keeping the more Liberal wing of the Party within the Democratic base.  The Party did not splinter as many thought would happen after 1968.

May Edward Kennedy rest in peace.  

Only one short passage from Senator Kennedy’s 1980 Democratic National Convention Address delivered after defeat to Jimmy Carter. I’ve heard it said that this speech defined the Democratic Party. It might be worth reading again … 

And someday, long after this convention, long after the signs come down and the crowds stop cheering, and the bands stop playing, may it be said of our campaign that we kept the faith. And may it be said of us, both in dark passages and in bright days, in the words of Tennyson that my brothers quoted and loved, and that have special meaning for me now:

"I am a part of all that I have met / [Tho] much is taken, much abides / That which we are, we are / One equal temper of heroic hearts / Strong in will / To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield."

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/tedkennedy1980dnc.htm