I had read that Ted sent a personl letter to the Pope that was delivered by Obama on his recent trip…

"At the interment at Arlington, retired Washington Cardinal Theodore McCarrick used the brief rite as an opportunity to read much of the contents of the two letters, which revealed something about both senator and pope.

Kennedy’s letter was in both a plea and a brief for himself — as well as a vouching for Obama. He began:

"Most Holy Father, I asked President Obama to personally hand deliver this letter to you. As a man of deep faith himself, he understands how important my Roman Catholic faith is to me, and I am deeply grateful to him.

"I hope this letter finds you in good health. I pray that you have all of God’s blessings as you lead our Church and inspire our world during these challenging times.

"I am writing with deep humility to ask that you pray for me as my own health declines. I was diagnosed with brain cancer more than a year ago, and, although I continue treatment, the disease is taking its toll on me. I am 77 years old and preparing for the next passage of life.

"I have been blessed to be a part of a wonderful family, and both of my parents, particularly my mother, kept our Catholic faith at the center of our lives. That gift of faith has sustained, nurtured and provided solace to me in the darkest hours. I know that I have been an imperfect human being, but with the help of my faith, I have tried to right my path."

Then Kennedy goes on to defend his public record — a last apologia from a controversial Catholic figure. And while he avoids altogether the pro-choice record that was the source of his greatest tension with the hierarchy, he does vow that (as Obama has) that any health care reform package would include conscience protections for health care workers who refuse to participate in procedures that would violate their beliefs, such as abortion:

"I want you to know, Your Holiness, that in my nearly 50 years of elective office, I have done my best to champion the rights of the poor and open doors of economic opportunity. I’ve worked to welcome the immigrant, fight discrimination and expand access to health care and education. I have opposed the death penalty and fought to end war. Those are the issues that have motivated me and been the focus of my work as a United States Senator.

"I also want you to know that even though I am ill, I am committed to do everything I can to achieve access to health care for everyone in my country. This has been the political cause of my life. I believe in a conscience protection for Catholics in the health care field and will continue to advocate for it as my colleagues in the Senate and I work to develop an overall national health policy that guarantees health care for everyone.

"I have always tried to be a faithful Catholic, Your Holiness, and though I have fallen short through human failings, I have never failed to believe and respect the fundamental teachings. I continue to pray for God’s blessings on you and our Church and would be most thankful for your prayers for me."
Two weeks later, the pope responded, writing, as usual, through a senior Vatcan official:

"The Holy Father has read the letter which you entrusted to President Barack Obama, who kindly presented it to him during their recent meeting. He was saddened to know of your illness, and has asked me to assure you of his concern and his spiritual closeness. He is particularly grateful for your promise of prayers for him and for the needs of the universal Church.

"His Holiness prays that in the days ahead you may be sustained in faith and hope, and granted the precious grace of joyful surrender to the will of God our merciful Father. He invokes upon you the consolation and peace promised by the Risen Savior to all who share in His sufferings and trust in His promise of eternal life.

"Commending you and the members of your family to the loving intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Holy Father cordially imparts his Apostolic Blessing as a pledge of wisdom, comfort and strength in the Lord."
Benedict wisely, and predictably, rendered no judgment on Kennedy’s public record. But his charitable and heartfelt expressions of support and prayer are sure to to be a solace in liberal quarters. In remarks prepared for the interment service, Cardinal McCarrick was at his usual pastoral self, offering condolences to Kennedy’s widow, Vicki, and all the family — and adding a story of his own that seemed to put in perspective the entire saga of Kennedy’s often tricky relationship to the church:

"They called him the Lion of the Senate and indeed that is what he was," McCarrick said. "His roar and his zeal for what he believed made a difference in our nation’s life."

"Sometimes, we who were his friends and had affection for him would get mad at him when he roared at what we believed was the wrong side of an issue which was important to us, but we always were touched by his passion for the underdog, for the rights of working people, for better education and for adequate health care for every American," the cardinal added. "His legacy will surely place him among the dozen or so greats in the history of the Senate of the United States."

http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/08/29/ted-kennedy-to-pope-benedict-i-am-writing-with-deep-humility/?icid=main|main|dl1|link4|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.politicsdaily.com%2F2009%2F08%2F29%2Fted-kennedy-to-pope-benedict-i-am-writing-with-deep-humility%2F

Even I was to young to remember this…..disterbing none the less….

Kennedy’s Free Pass

In all the obits published and specials aired this week, Chappaquiddick gets a few paragraphs, a few minutes, a tidy recapping of the events of July 19, 1969: The married Ted Kennedy, driving late at night with young campaign aide Mary Jo Kopechne, pitches off a bridge and into the water below. He escapes; she drowns. He does not report the accident for 10 hours. He pleads guilty and gets a suspended sentence, two months in jail.

In most of these narratives, Chappaquiddick is told as Ted’s tragedy, the thing that kept him from ever becoming president. And in these narratives, he is chastened, goes on to make amends through a life of public service, advocating for the disadvantaged and the downtrodden — and, especially, women. No one’s perfect, right?

But how is it that so many women unabashedly revere Kennedy today? The particulars of Chappaquiddick are especially gory; his behavior after the accident approaches the amoral. Once he broke free and swam to the surface, Kennedy said that he dove back down seven or eight times to rescue Kopechne. Failing, he swam back to shore and checked back into his hotel, and a short time later lodged a noise complaint with the desk clerk. The people in the room next to his were partying and it was interfering with his sleep. Then he asked the desk clerk for the time.

According to the Aug. 4, 1969 edition of Newsweek, that clerk, Russell E. Peachey, told Kennedy it was 2:25 a.m., then asked, "Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"No, thank you," Kennedy replied.

*

In 1990, GQ magazine ran a devastating profile of Kennedy. Two 16-year-old girls near the Capitol startled by a limo rolling up, the door opening, Ted sitting in the back with a bottle of wine, asking one, then the other, to join. A former aide who acted as Ted’s "pimp." His penchant for dating women so young that one did not know he was the subject of many books. Kennedy, at a swank DC restaurant with his drinking buddy Chris Dodd, throwing a petite waitress on his dinner table with such force that glass and flatware shatters and goes flying. Then Ted throws her on to Dodd’s lap and grinds against her. He is interrupted by other waitstaff. He is later caught in the same restaurant, in a semi-private area, having sex on the floor with a lobbyist.

In 1991, Kennedy’s nephew William Kennedy Smith is charged with rape. Kennedy Smith had been out drinking with Ted and Ted’s son Patrick at Au Bar in Palm Beach. Kennedy Smith is eventually acquitted, and it’s never proved that Ted had any knowledge of what happened on the Kennedy grounds that night. He remarried, in 1992, and very publicly domesticated himself.

But the tawdriness — the ostensible elder statesmen getting s - - t-faced and picking up women with his son and his nephew; the acquittal won, in part, by shredding the accuser on the stand and in the press; privilege winning out, always — is in such stark contrast to Kennedy’s politics that you have to wonder: Is this really what Kennedy thought of women?

*

Most feminists don’t think Ted Kennedy was a misogynist. Upon news of his death, NOW, Emily’s List and Planned Parenthood all released emotional, laudatory statements. It’s true that Kennedy’s legislative record deserves such a response. And he was quiet enough in the last 15 years of his life that it’s not hard to minimize his past behavior if you want to.

Or if you’re unaware — Google reported that "Chappaquiddick" and "Mary Jo Kopechne" were the top searches Wednesday and Thursday.

"I didn’t know about Chappaquiddick and the rape case until yesterday," says Miriam Perez, a 25-year-old editor at Feministing.com. She admires Kennedy’s accomplishments, but is perplexed. "Like every person, he’s human and there are lots of flaws involved," she says. "But a big feminist tenet is: The personal is political. So I don’t feel it’s fair to fully ignore it in this case."

Perhaps, along with the hagiographic Kennedy myth, we can bury this outdated tradition of excusing the reprehensible treatment of women by the same male legislators who otherwise advocate for our rights politically. It’s degrading. It’s like making excuses for the husband who beats you up but pays the bills on time. It may be 2009, but the bulk of the talking heads who covered this funeral were older white males, and among the few women — eminent historian Doris Kearns Goodwin among them — it’s still shocking to hear them, nearly to a one, reduce Kennedy’s bad behavior to rakish abandon or poor judgement. Why shouldn’t we hold our elected male officials — especially those who so assiduously court the female vote — to a standard of personal decency in their treatment of women? Why do we still assume that this is an either/or proposition?

"It’s a great question," says Gloria Feldt, former president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. Feldt worked with Kennedy and is an admirer, still. "He worked with women’s groups in a very respectful way, in a way that few other senators do," she says. "But I don’t know that you can reconcile it — when it’s in a group’s best interest that said person stays in that chair, how do you weigh that moral equation? I wish it were simpler than that."

http://www.nypost.com/seven/08302009/postopinion/opedcolumnists/kennedys…

Thanks Deb..we are actually in Land Surveying but eveything else is true!  We have had 8 new jobs in the last two days..about the same as we have had in a month for the past 10 months.  I truly have tears in my eyes as I type.  It will be first night I go home with some HOPE in a very long time! 

Our next step was loans on our life insurance to keep making the house payments…..still cautioiusly  OPTIMISTIC but tonight will be the best friday night in a very long time!

Thanks for your kind and optimistic words!!!  I thinkyou are very right!!!!

Great article deber…..I agree 100% with everythign he said!!! 

 That being said..my very small real estate related business that has been struggling for over a year now..wrote 8 contracts in 4 days that amount for the total we have done a month since this began!!! ( fingers crossed it continues)

  Our savings may be gone..but I feel the people are energized and angry and many have told us they strive to suceed in spite of him and what he is trying to do to this country!!

Obama may have united us in way he never intended….anger, fear and the American spirit!!!  I pray it continues…. 

that is awesome!!!  I have my application into the school now as a aide for some extra pay now that I have os much free time on my hands with business so slow.

I mentor 25-28 young high school girls per season in my cheer program and I love it!  Especially when they come back after graduation as grown woman, mothers and productive voting citizens!  I feel the pride as their parents do in being  apart of their lives!!!!

Maggie….I totally see now where you are coming from. …and it is really sad.

  You know not a day goes by that my professional licensed  husband does not bring work home with him yet he participates in Rotary, his trade association and BNI in his "spare time". And he gets paid not a dime for any of it…in fact he pays them!!!

What is this idea that you have to be PAID for every minute you participate in life How about just doing it for the sake of the kids????  I have volunteered for zero pay for over 10 years..and love it!  I’m just sad that my business is not able to help the program as we have in the past and it breaks my heart to see kids with struggling parents not be able to pay for uniforms & equipment.

If we did not do the job ..it would be eliminated!!

Teachers in my area are paid well ( Average pay is 50K and most have a union negociate retirement package that pays them more to sit at home than to teach.  That is why pur state is nearly bankrupt.  Solution..says out Union backed Govenor..raise more taxes on those that work….

As bitter as you are it is probably better that you are no longer in a classroom! 

Cardiologists Crying Foul Over Medicare Cuts Hurt Obama Revamp

http://news.yahoo.com/s/bloomberg/20090828/pl_bloomberg/arqnpw9zinj4

Listen to Michigan Mike Rogers opening statement…..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G44NCvNDLfc