Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Senator Edward Kennedy: The Most Powerful Voice for the Lost and Forgotten Has Passed

Today, I followed my usual morning routine of coffee, toast and a view of the front page of our local paper, Panama City News Herald. The headlines that filled the front page dealt with meth, erosion, forum tickets and domestic violence. You can imagine my surprise upon learning the death of Senator Ted Kennedy which was buried on page four just ahead of the death of whooping cranes. Now I realize the panhandle reading audience is mainly Republican, right wing conservative, and decidedly more racist than many would care to admit. But buried on page four slightly ahead of whooping cranes? Really?
Senator Kennedy devoted 46 years, nearly half a century, of his political career as a champion of the forgotten, the poor, the neglected. He will be remembered as the happy warrior in search of better health care, housing and education for all not just the privileged. Even his adversaries admired his perseverance and drive towards achieving legislation that improved the quality of life whether it was raising the minimum wage, maintaining funding for head start, insuring fair housing practices or supporting medicare. Kennedy was larger than life, laughed loudly and lived strong. (I think Lance Armstrong would approve) and yes, he had his own personal demons as do we all.
Senator Kennedy had to endure the loss of all of his brothers, Joe, John, and Bobby. The trigger of hate was directly responsible for the loss of both President Kennedy and Bobby. The surviving brother could have chosen to be bitter, withdrawn and filled with anger. Instead he vowed to dedicate his life to improving the lives of all Americans. To paraphrase poet, Robert Frost, Senator Kennedy took the road less traveled and that has made all the difference.
Now fast forward to the town hall meetings where vitriolic rhetoric has drowned out reasonable discourse regarding health care reform and hateful posters equate the leader of the free world as somehow Hitler-esque and UnAmerican. Men touting their right to openly display weapons are appearing at Obama speeches. Where was this display of outrage when President Bush was spending one billion a month on a war that was being fought for the wrong reasons? According to Senator Kennedy, "We know the future will outlast all of us, but I believe that all of us will live on in the future we make.” Is this democracy in action? Is this the future we will make? What has happened to the Golden Rule at these meetings? Church on Sunday, Hate on Monday? We can and must do better, regardless of which side of the health reform argument we support.
Senator Kennedy leaves a legacy of 46 years of public service dedicated to insuring a better life for all, regardless of race, creed, or economic status. And, accordingly, he leaves us with this challenge:
"The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives and the dreams shall never die."
Guaranteed access to health coverage for 25 million Americans who move from one job to another or have preexisting medical conditions wouldn't have happened without TED KENNEDY.
Without TED KENNEDY, there wouldn't have been a bilingual education in the United States for the 5 million students who today have a brighter future because they are learning English in our schools.
Without TED KENNEDY, we wouldn't have lowered the voting age to 18 and ended the hypocrisy that 18-year-olds were old enough to die for their country in Vietnam but not old enough to vote for its leadership at home.
Without TED KENNEDY, we wouldn't be the world's leader in cancer research and prevention--as personal and meaningful an issue as there is in all the world for TED KENNEDY, not just a father, but a loving father of two cancer survivors.
Without TED KENNEDY, we wouldn't have had title XI which opened the doors of competition and opportunity to a generation of women athletes all across our country.
Maybe, Senator Kennedy didn't earn front page news in Panama City but his words and deeds and kindness will endure for generations.