The Future Holds a Lion’s Heart, by Martha Thomases – Brilliant Disguise

August 29, 2009 Martha Thomases 22 Comments

As you can see from the photograph, I met Ted Kennedy once.  While I don’t remember the exact date, it must have been before 1971 because I can tell from my hair and my outfit that I’m in high school.  That’s when we were all wearing skirts made from an Indian bedspread and an elastic waist-band.  My hair is too long for it to have been 1968, so it was either right before Chappaquiddick or soon after.

The occasion is a fund-raiser for our local Congressman, whose name I can no longer remember.  He’s the short little man standing next to me, the one who looks like a malevolent sprite, with the lights behind him resembling nothing so much as devil horns.  My father is on the far left, and that’s my mom next to him.  I am the only person who doesn’t know how to smile at the camera like a person.

And thus, my brush with greatness.

It’s interesting to read the various memorials to Senator Kennedy this week.  Obviously, your political convictions will color your feelings about his passing.  The crazies can’t stop talking about Chappaquiddick.  More thoughtful conservatives talk about his abilities to reach consensus on issues that were important to him.  And liberals mourn the passing of a passionate advocate for those things they hold dear.

Edward Kennedy’s life was a jumble.  He made egregious mistakes, and he made heroic efforts.  He came from a life of privilege, and spent his days championing those least fortunate.  Through him, we can see ourselves at our best and at our worst.

It has fascinated me for decades the way the right wing in this country obsesses over Mary Jo Kopechne.  Her death was a terrible tragedy (is there any other kind?), but I believe it was an accident.  As humans, we have accidents.  They do not ascribe bad motives to Laura Bush, who accidentally killed an ex-boyfriend in a car crash, but Ted Kennedy gets no such benefit of the doubt.

Laura Bush is not an elected official, and as such, her actions, perhaps, deserve less scrutiny.  However, the people of Massachusetts had ample opportunity to pass judgement on Kennedy, and they did, re-electing him to office many times.  

Kennedy could have taken the easy way out.  He could have withdrawn from public life after this and other embarrassments.  He had plenty of money and plenty of power.  However, he chose to put himself out because he felt an obligation to public service.

That’s what I find so admirable.  Kennedy sacrificed his own comfort and convenience to work for the common good.

Perhaps, for the next decade, he felt obliged to run for President.  His father wanted one of his sons to be President, and Ted was the only son left.  I always thought that losing his campaign in 1980 freed him to do the work  he really wanted to do.  He found his voice best on the Senate floor, and working for his fellow Democrats.

Not everything he did pleased me.  I wasn’t thrilled about the way he worked with Bush to pass No Child Left Behind.  It’s not in my nature to agree with the compromises he frequently sought.  Still, I admired his passion.  I enjoyed the way he threw himself into his work, his family, and his life.

He made mistakes, and he went on.  It’s a lesson to us all about what makes life worth living.

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Martha Thomases, Media Goddess, wishes Mad Dog another happy year of a life worth living.