The Jewish Redemption of Ted Kennedy

http://politics.theatlantic.com/2009/08/the_jewish_redemption_of_kennedy.php#comment-256899

There are, too, second lives in politics. From Alexander Hamilton onward, wayward politicians have found ways to sufficiently redeem themselves, regardless of the offense. In 1969, Sen. Ted Kennedy's compulsions and addiction caused the death of an innocent woman. Long a critic of the power of the privileged classes, Kennedy found it very convenient, that night, to be privileged.

In thinking about Kennedy's legacy, it is not sufficient to note that, by the time he died, he had won political redemption beyond his wildest fantasies. The fact outrages those who dislike Kennedy, and it is often accepted, even uneasily, by those who embraced him later. Do not equate political redemption with popularity. They aren't the same thing. Kennedy was very liberal, and seen as such, and he was never a universally revered figure. At most, about half of Americans had a favorable view of him.

Aside from ideology, which doubtless influences perception here, there is a brutal calculus at the heart of one's assessment of Kennedy: did his latter years make up for his serious, harmful transgression? How one answers that question, I think, is as much a matter of how one views redemption.

How many of us go on to make life better for millions of people? Edward Kennedy did.

If he did nothing else, he voted against that insane Iraqi horror. He tried to save lives; that's redemption.

I am Jewish and there are parts of this article that I really appreciate and understand