First off, Howie Carr of WRKO Radio out of Boston was up to his usual hatefulness against Sen. Ted Kennedy yesterday on his show. Yes, we get that you hate the man Howie. You’ve summed up his whole life after one night of drinking that ended up with the death of a woman. He was more than that night Howie and you know it. Anyway…
The people of Massachusetts loved Ted Kennedy. He was their favorite Catholic, their favorite Senator, their favorite neighbor, and their favorite advocate & friend. Yesterday they paid their respects to him not caring one iota what Howie Carr or other vile pieces of shit had to say.
Here’s a beautiful tribute I found on YouTube that best captures the mood, the love, the day he took his last ride to Boston, and the respect for a man that deserved every ounce of affection he got by the people who loved him most, and who will get more over the next few days (the end of the video ends abruptly so don’t be surprised!):
The last time I saw this much outpouring of love for one person was when Princess Diana died. Remember the people standing along the route to her home as her casket passed by and they were crying and throwing flowers at the hearse? I remember bawling my eyes out! I loved her. I loved Ted Kennedy too and the people of Massachusetts today showed that they loved him way more! It was such a beautiful sight to see them standing on the side of the road waiting for their Senator just so they could applaud him one last time as he briefly passed by….
All walks of life waiting for their friend & Senator…
Beautiful tribute to a beautiful man.
Again, if you’re interested….YOU CAN CLICK HERE TO VIEW A LIVE FEED OF TED KENNEDY LYING IN REPOSE IN BOSTON.
Here’s a story about Ted Kennedy I’ve never heard:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389×6402831
Another testament to who this great man was!
Thank you so much for the videos. First I have seen.
Heard one pundit say that the fateful ONE NIGHT on Chappaquiddick
may have been a blessing in disguise in that he paid the cost of
never becoming president. However that failure left him able to do
far more for all Americans in his 47 years in the Senate than he
could ever have done in 8 years in the Oval Office. It’s too bad
that he didn’t meet a “Vicki” when he was young, to help make him a
better man. Instead he went for a former beauty pageant queen with
whom he had a loveless marriage for much of 25 years with both
afflicted by alcoholism. Even then, along with having two brothers
assassinated, he began to leave a legacy in the U.S. Senate. He
became a new person after his 1992 marriage to Vicki.
Elder Bush refuses to attend Kennedy funeral
Yes, given du-bya, is stupid as a bucket of pig shit, as dishonest as any of the reich wing, a un-indicted war criminal, comes from a long line of traitors to the constitution, including his grand-pa (Prescott Bush) who was actively trading with the enemy when his bank was seized by the US government in 1942,
the worst president EVEA, will amply represent what a bunch of greedy sycophants the bush’s spawn have been trough out the years.
Poppy and Bar are only an hour’s drive from Kennebunkport to Boston
if they don’t have access to a helicopter. Poppy has been looking
frail lately even if he did tandem jump from an airplane recently.
He will be next to be planted, no doubt. Maybe he realizes that
there won’t be such an outpouring for him or junior when they both
are gone. Last night, they had to keep the Kennedy Library open
three extra hours, to 2 a.m. to take care of everyone in line. He
was most beloved by the people of New England and the Nation.
George H.W. Bush won’t be attending because he was behind the killing of John F. Kennedy and it would be a conflict of interest. Spit!
Grant, wait until either George W. or George H.W. Bush die. The nation will line up along the road TO GIVE THEM THE FINGER AND CALL THEM CRIMINALS/WAR CRIMINALS! Should be fun. I hope at least one of the funerals is here in Maine so I can pay tribute!
http://www.snopes.com/politics/war/wmdquotes.asp
so what they were WRONG, but that still doesn’t excuse the lying, cherry picking of intell to try to back up the out right lies Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld told to get their illegal war does it?
Or the complete idiots who are trying to push the crap you push to try to justify the war Crimes of the Bush criminal cabal.
Yes moron, all of that was said, but what you’re refusing to remember is Clinton refused to start a full-fledge war with Iraq (remember the past he said! George H.W. Bush knew going into Baghdad would be a very bad idea and his son proved it was!). He wanted to solve it diplomatically and if you read down through Snopes, you will find that Clinton talked with his military leaders and they said Saddam could be contained without using bombs. Fast forward to George Bush…..he stopped the flyovers Clinton had imposed and he didn’t give the inspectors any time to look for wmd or chemicals, but instead, took them out and then bombed Iraq and went straight into Baghdad while securing the oil fields which was his and Cheney’s sole purpose for wanting to go back in (they were mad with Daddy Bush for not getting the oil!).
So keep trying Neocon White Race Member! What George Bush did was a war crime because he lied our nation into an unjust occupation of a nation THAT DID NOT ATTACK OR HAD THE ABILITY TO.
Faux News insists on running their news banner across the bottom of
the TV screen while prayers and eulogies are given at the Memorial
Service. Can’t deny the knuckle-draggers the latest news about
Michael Jackson’s autopsy or the kidnapped girl in California.
Meanwhile, CNN and MSNBC SHOW RESPECT only having Sen. Kennedy’s
picture and year of birth and death at the corners of the screen.
I said this on the last post and decided to post it here too:
“Nick Littlefield is singing Ted’s favorite song, “Love Changes Everything”, in honor of Ted’s love for Vicki! OMG, I can’t even compose myself right now! So powerful.”
My family (not just immediate family but with all the cousins, Aunts & Uncles) and I would sometimes sing, but most of all, as a family…..we loved to play Michigan Rummy! So much fun. We’d play with pennies & nickles and my Uncle Sam would always lose his money right off the bat and then become “friends” with one of us nieces and nephews. And then he’d lose our money too! LOL Man. Good times. I understand the relationship Teddy and his nieces and nephews/kids had together. Believe it or not….the family is important up here in New England. Of course, we all get older and we tend to spread apart but our love, affection, and memories are always there!
Great memorial service, not maudlin but happy as any Irish wake
should be. Orin Hatch seemed to have a hard time holding up, didn’t
realize they were such close friends. His roomie from college broke
up everyone telling his sailing story.
Beautiful service, Grant! I wept through a lot of it. When Caroline started to break up, I did too. It’s gotta be so difficult for her with all the deaths she’s been through. I’m sure she feels like she’s lost another father. Sad.
I don’t often cry but “When Irish Eyes are Smiling” was sung, my
eyes got wet. My mother was half Irish and often played that song
on our piano along with some other Irish tunes. I loved my Irish
Nana and Granny. Both ladies lived to age 93 and were some of the
happiest persons I ever knew. They never got upset, maybe their
reason for living so long. After my Pappy died at age 87, Nana
lived alone up a long farm lane and got snowed in for several days
by a blizzard coming off Lake Michigan. She could be reached by
phone and wasn’t upset as was the rest of the family knowing she
was isolated. She said, “Don’t worry, I have plenty of bottle gas,
a cellar and frig full of food.” Then in the next breath she raved
about how beautiful the snow was and was glad she had a full bird
feeder as she enjoyed watching them feed outside her window. She
could always turn a negative into a positive. She cried when we
arrived at her house out of happiness and cried when we left out of
sadness. And she always had huge hugs for everyone. Even 200 years
ago, my Irish ancestral grandmother, who had 18 children (at home
with only one death) lived to be 88. Now our generations are dying
much younger, most with cancer, a disease that didn’t exist in
older generations of our family who didn’t have modern medicine and
surgery.
Thanks for sharing, Grant. Your Nana sounded like a wonderful ole Irish woman!
Nana’s sister lived to be 102 and quite a feisty old woman. All of
the women including my mother were tiny, less than 5′ tall and
dynamos. I got along with Aunt Mary as she was one of the few
Democrats in the family and also an atheist right up to her death.
My Aunt Mary was happy to have her 100th birthday announced on the
Today Show by Willard Scott. She got a 100th birthday card from
President Reagan and the Lompoc, CA newspaper was there as she
opened it along with blowing out her candles. She remarked (and it
was printed in the paper) that she didn’t know why Reagan sent her
a card as she never had voted for him! I lived in California for
six years and got to be there during her last years. Most of my
family are German and too stoic, frugal for me to really enjoy
being around some of them. Thank goodness my immediate family, all
here in Texas has that Irish blood. My Irish family were so much
more fun to be around and always felt I took more after them. Now
my German cousins in Germany are much more fun loving for some
reason. I love to be around them as they like to drink, eat, sing,
and dance. But the American cousins are all about making money and
squeezing every dime.
Grant, did I ever tell you the story when I worked for a large insurance company years ago and the manager of our office was Italian (last name DeAngelis)? He had a smidgen of Irish in his blood and considered himself full-blooded Irish and lived his life that way! It was hysterical. He would have ‘3-martini’ lunches at a local Irish pub in Portland just about every day. One day (I was 19 and the drinking age was 21), he bought me a drink at one of these lunches and the older women in the group were livid with him. I’m Italian too and he said to them, “She looks Irish to me”. LOL! Hey, I guess if you have a smidgen of Irish in your blood or you ‘look Irish’ there are no rules or limits! His Irish side was definitely fun for sure.
Grant and Kay…thank you for sharing your family stories. The
Irish ones are especially poignant to me Grant. My partner is Irish
with just a tiny bit of Indian. You know what that means..but the
stories… Some of hers that I especially like are about her
grandmother. She came over here in the bottom of a boat. ..due to
the potato famine. Her Mother died when she was 12 so she had to
raise her younger siblings. As a young mother , she found out that
her husband was abusing her daughter. Hit him on the head with a
frying pan when he came home drunk.Left him for dead in the
snow.Way back then a woman didn’t have many options for justice.
She could have gone to jail. He lived though.Got a divorce and
later married her supervisor. Recently died at 104. Left her
daughters 8 million each. She lived a good life.(knew how to
invest) Had lots of fun. Lots of tragedy..but there is something
about the Irish.You can’t keep them down.I think that is what
pisses off the English.
Re. Ted Kennedy’s funeral. The child saying that his Uncle Teddy
said health care was a right not a priviledge. All the senators in
that room. Reminds me of the bible verse…and a little child shall
lead them.Don’t read the bible anymore but there is some good stuff
in it. goddess I am mellow today.
I love YOU goddess! Thank you for sharing your story with us too. I wanted to do a “gay man’s snap” in the air when I heard one of the grandkids talking about health care being a right and not a privilege!