Sunday, May 25, 2008

Ted Kennedy

The recent outpouring of respect and affection for Ted Kennedy -- even from hyper-partisan, conservative Republican opponents -- surprised me.

I thought our national politics had become so debased, so pickled in vitriol and so dependent on big lies, nasty distortions and sneaky half-truths, that respect and affection for liberals was virtually unimaginable from the culture warriors of the right.

But there on C-SPAN were right-wingers like Republican leader Mitch McConnel praising Teddy as maybe the greatest senator of all time.

The tributes went beyond pro forma sentiment or opportunistic sentimentality -- they appeared heartfelt. Everyone on the Hill seems to really like and respect the senior senator from Massachusetts, the third Kennedy brother, the liberal lion as they call him, the last crusader from the flawed yet still mythic court of Camelot, a senator since 1962.

Here's a picture I made of Teddy years ago, when he was running for President.