"The Lonely Passing..."
JP Freire has written a moving column on the passing of Senator Kennedy that is well worth a read.
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JP Freire has written a moving column on the passing of Senator Kennedy that is well worth a read.
Commenting is closed for this article.
“Even if blinded by political ambition, he never would be able to move on from the Senate to higher office. People would praise his abilities, talk of his gravitas. Others, like me, would be tempted to crack the usual jokes. It’s crass.”
J.P. Freire shouldn’t beat himself up about his “crassness.” According to Kennedy’s “good friend,” Ed Klein, the lonely Senator loved a good knee-slapper about Chappaquiddick.
“I don’t know if you know this or not, but one of his favorite topics of humor was indeed Chappaquiddick itself. And he would ask people, ‘have you heard any new jokes about Chappaquiddick?’ That is just the most amazing thing. It’s not that he didn’t feel remorse about the death of Mary Jo Kopechne, but that he still always saw the other side of everything and the ridiculous side of things, too.”
That’s from an interview with Klein on The Diane Rehm Show.
— Kate Marie · Aug 30, 04:10 PM · #
That really moved me. To puke.
The loneliness of unsatisfied ambition? The prestige and power of the senate (without the burden of actually having to campaign in a homogeneous royalty-loving state) depicted as limbo, and public service?
Teddy loved a good time, but felt bad about having a good time, and we can be sure of this because no one rationalizes guilt in their own minds as somehow made up for by his own importance or service to others he does not know – only obituaries do that.
His loneliness was unparalleled though because he is famous and his family is famous. The senate was not a reward for being a victim and manslaughterer, but a punishment and a life of feeling guilty rectifies any harm done.
We should not wish for any further justice than that – debt paid, now St. K can rise to heaven in peace.
I don’t mind feeling sorry for Teddy and I did, before. But these sort of pieces would be more convincing if they spent a little more time on how it is so admirable to feel just bad enough not to kill yourself after having gone back to the party he came from to make sure no one would try to call the cops or try to rescue his passenger, and then try to pass this off as the noble thing to have done, to avoid any further possible deaths.
I, personally, can sympathize with all of that, and I do feel sorry for him for doing it, and even for his blind ambition that Freire excuses as genetic (just more of the charming Kennedy legacy/burden/legend), but so what?
I felt more sorry for Kennedy because he seemed to have believed everything that Freire wrote about him while he was alive.
He loved to bring up how he and his family were victims and seemed to believe his family was royalty and deserved to represent MA in government.
Mary Jo was just someone else he was entitled to because he was a public servant, not the reason he served.
I never especially disliked or especially admired Teddy before. I was impressed that any American politician could be so popular and live the life of a reckless rock star.
But all the celebration of guaranteed public service and ham-fisted, badly designed legislation, and the morally obtuse idea that “public service” somehow amends for misogyny and manslaughter has now surpassed the inordinate reverence shown for Michael Jackson’s amazing life, and I have become a bit nauseated.
This article just encapsulates the tone of all the nonstop proceedings on my tv and in my papers: such a victim, such a selfless servant of the people. And we’ll never know what happened that night, but it shouldn’t mar the fact that he was a hero, so we should think of him as a victimized hero even in that case, if we bring it up at all.
Call me crass now if you want, but please remember me as a courageous commenter who quietly carried the loss of his loved ones with dignity even when it led him to drink, drive, and kill, and served others by voicing his personal opinions without pay.
— More like "liberal lizard," am I right? · Aug 30, 05:52 PM · #
Call me crass now if you want, but please remember me as a courageous commenter
Fear not. No act better deserves to be called courageous than posting a comment on a blog under a pseudonym.
— Freddie · Aug 30, 06:03 PM · #
Good one Freddie. No one should voice their opinions or ideas without attaching their name, address, and bio.
How else are we supposed to know if we should take them seriously or not?
I’m sure no commenter would be so cowardly as to voice such a vile opinion as being outraged at the celebration of a scoundrel and hide behind a pseudonym if their name were Kennedy.
— I am Mary Jo · Aug 30, 06:46 PM · #
Good one Freddie. No one should voice their opinions or ideas without attaching their name, address, and bio.
No, but no one should mistake leaving an anonymous comment with an act of courage.
— Freddie · Aug 30, 08:27 PM · #
The 101st Fighting Keyboarders beg to differ!
— Chet · Aug 30, 09:29 PM · #
“no one should mistake leaving an anonymous comment with an act of courage.”
Yeah. But no one did.
To clarify: I actually don’t really want to be remembered as courageous and noble like the crass hyper-partisan “statesmen” lion Ted K.
See, I said the opposite, but used a very clever pseudonym, making my remembrance and immortality through the eloquence of others impossible.
Just to be clear: it will be impossible for you to properly remember me at my own funeral since I humbly chose an awesome pseudonym rather than insisting on personal recognition and acknowledgment.
That is to say, because I am anonymous, you won’t know when I die, alone with my private pain, guilt, and regret (like every human being ever, anonymous or courageously vain).
Sorry for my failed attempt at humor. Perhaps one of the Chappaquiddick jokes Ted loved to hear would have been more appropriate.
— More like "liberal lizard," am I right? · Aug 30, 09:36 PM · #
You guys are right. It works on so many levels.
— Freddie · Aug 31, 02:32 AM · #
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