Teddy

When I was reading the article at New York Times, I couldn't help but feeling a colossal sense of gratitude. Certainly, I also feel sad, particularly because he didn't get to see all of the (hopefully) great things that are going to happen in the Obama administration. However, how can we not feel such gratitude to Senator Kennedy in light of this (borrowed from the Times online):

"Kennedy, who became known as the "Lion of the Senate," played major roles in passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act and the 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act, and was an outspoken liberal standard-bearer during a conservative-dominated era from the 1980s to the early 2000s."

I mean, geez. These are all absolutely pivotal pieces of legislation. What would this country be like without them? I don't pretend that TK did these things single-handedly, but he wasn't just a sometimes-show-up-to-vote kind of Senator. In a world where Congress gets a sometimes hard to argue with image as a bunch of lazy, selfish, unprincipled, sell-outs, that was sure not Kennedy.

What a life to lead.

"For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives and the dream shall never die." - Senator Ted Kennedy.