Can we please, finally, forgive Ted Kennedy?

"For years I didn't want to ever hear the name Ted Kennedy again. For years I heard the stories of his drinking, his carousing, and I wondered how the good people of Massachusetts could go on electing him.


He ran for president against Jimmy Carter and campaigned badly. Again, we counted him out. Then he gave his concession speech, his "the dream shall never die" speech, on the night of Jimmy Carter's primary victory. There were a number of us in the room that night watching the returns, but I can still remember how quiet it was as we listened to the final moments of his speech.. I remember that none of us expected much from him by that time so when he started we were barely listening. When it ended, we all looked at one another and someone said, "Why in God's name did he have to wait until now to give that speech?"


I've heard people say that he campaigned badly because, after Chappaquiddick, he felt deep down that he didn't deserve the presidency. I can't begin to look into Ted Kennedy's soul at the time, but after that defeat he was a different man. He went to work to fight for the causes his liberal heart told him were the most important, and he never looked back.



Already I'm seeing the hatred toward the Liberal Lion, the greatest senator of our times, bombarding the boards. I won't repeat them here because I choose to celebrate Ted Kennedy's life. It's a life that is ultimately deserving of praise. Many of the people who are without a doubt going to go on the Hate Kennedy rampage today will laugh at the idea of a plea for forgiveness, so I'll say this in words that most of them can understand:


Luke 17:3 - Take heed to yourselves; if your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him.


To forgive is not to forget. I'm not alone in wondering where Mary Jo's life would have taken her. From all accounts, she was good, decent, smart, loving. She was on Robert Kennedy's staff, even helping to write a speech he gave against the Vietnam War. Who knows what kind of career she would have chosen? Where she would be today?


I've always wondered if it's possible that Ted Kennedy chose to give his life over to helping people who couldn't help themselves because the one time he might have actually saved a life, he failed.


It was the greatest act of repentance any of one of us has ever seen, and if I weep for Ted Kennedy today, it is not for all the things that might have been, it is for all the things that were and now will be no more."

http://ramonasvoices.blogspot.com/

I know some here won't like the "warts and all" approach to this article, but I thought it was very moving.

greater than man.

he was forgiven many years ago.

He's dead, there's no point in forgiving (at least as far as he's concerned).

Just as there's no point in praising (except to comfort the mourning family--and since they're scarce in my community, that's pretty much the end of it; I'd also say that the paeans sung in his name dwarf his humanity).

He made a terrible error of judgement at Chappequidick and I believe it haunted him the rest of his life. He became an even better Senator after that working for the many rather than the few. I think we have to take the total of somebody's life and not only one aspect of it.

i think he tried to make up for it as best as he could
and did amazingly well.

forgiveness is for the kopechnes, though.

I'd have to forgive everyone then in this world

nuff said.

Perhaps I should be asking him for his forgiveness. I could have fought harder for healthcare to help this get passed before he passed away.

From all reliable accounts I've heard and read this was a horrible tragic accident. From an account I read a while ago I came to feel that he may have had a severe concussion that affected his actions and memory just after the accident. Even if not I do know from experience that people often act very strangely when faced with something their mind has problem handling.

IMO for all that he has done for this country to help others less fortunate then he was he has much to earn our respect and affection. On the judgment scale I'm very sure that what he did that was right, far outweighs the spin and lies that the RW has tried to sell for years.

On an event that one did not see with one's own eyes.

I have been in a car accident before. I recall the confusion and fogginess that followed. I can't even remember my own actions, so how could I judge Kennedy's memories of his own? The only thought I remember was "I have to get out of this car". I hope that I later helped my friends (all who survived, thank God), but I have no memory of doing so. But even if I didn't, I forgave myself. Shock is a funny thing, you know? A survival auto-pilot that is difficult to predict or control.

Teddy was an excellent senator who spoke up for the common person who appeared to become a role model for may later in life.

have no reason to "forgive" anything. I haven't been wronged by Teddy. He's made mistakes in his past, but who hasn't? Those who are without sin can cast the stones. Otherwise, keep their mouths shut.

and I agree with the author--I do think one reason Ted was so compelled to do the great things he did was because of this tragedy. To those who can't forgive, I ask: What thing have you done in YOUR life that you would like all your friends and relations to NEVER forgive you for?

Hard to know how his political life might have gone had Chappaquiddick never happened...would he have been as driven to do all the good things he did...

Because to me it seemed like he was always trying mightily to repay some debt in life. Whether it was the Chappaquiddick incident, or even trying to make up in some way for having been born into a family of wealth and power and privilege when so many others had not been.

Trying to carry on the work of his brothers...

Personal demons driving him...


From all accounts, he was a cheerful, jocular sort of man, yet often it's those very people who are carrying around the most pain inside.


In any case, forgiveness from humans isn't for the person we're forgiving...it's for us. There are going to be some people who will delight in carrying around a rock of unforgiving hatred for Teddy. Well...that's their burden to drop. Or not.

I think Teddy was forgiven long ago by his God.

Forgiveness and grudges are now irrelevant, IMO. Let's appreciate the good the man did, and avoid repeating the rest of that cautionary tale.

The personal stuff is not a big deal.

I do wonder the extent to which the bitter 1980 primaries wounded Carter, though, and helped pave the way for Reagan. Got over that when Obama won.

They forgive him, it's well beyond time to follow their lead.

Why do I have to forgive Ted Kennedy? What has he done to me that involves the wrenching and personal process of evaluation that results in forgiveness. For what reason would I flood Teddy with the grace of forgiveness?

What sin has he committed against me that I am unaware of?