It’s only begrudgingly that I ordinarily salute Democrats, but man, I have no problem saying that I’m going to miss this guy. Deeply. Celebrity deaths don’t ordinarily move me, but I’ll admit to feeling more than a little rattled right now. The Right’s always had a field day with his personal life; but I wonder what the rest of us would made of ourselves under similar circumstances (3 dead brothers, papa Joe, etc.,etc.). He could have rested on his millions; instead, he became America’s formost champion of the underpriveleged, the disabled–the marginalized–over the past 50 years. In some way, your life is better because of him, no matter who you are.
And I couldn’t help but smile during the lead-up the war, when he was one of the very few Senators to speak openly, defiantly, and angrily against the war. Just as he did against apartheid. He was unsuccessful–but he tried, probably harder than you and I–and I thought that was, perhaps, his greatest hour. We needed all the inspiration we coudl get in those dark days–just as we did during the Reagan years–and sure didn’t get much from most Democrats. Ted delivered. I won’t ever forget that.
Among so much else, you owe him for the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, the National Cancer Act of 1971, the Federal Election Campaign Act Amendments of 1974, the COBRA Act of 1985, the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act of 1986, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the Ryan White AIDS Care Act in 1990, the Civil Rights Act of 1991, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, the Mental Health Parity Act in 1996 and 2008, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program… the list goes on and on.
Would that he had been five years younger. If there’s anyone on the planet Obama could have used this year, it was him.
Anyway, I went into Boston for the funereal procession. As did thousands of others. And it looked like this.
