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Gandalf Grey
Guest
Ted Kennedy and Caroline Kennedy Pass the Torch
By Brent Budowsky
Created Feb 3 2008 - 6:27pm
Robert Kennedy often quoted Dante that the hottest places in hell are for
those who in times of crisis maintain their neutrality.
For Caroline Kennedy and for Ted Kennedy, the 2008 campaign was no time to
maintain neutrality. They did not calculate the odds or hold out for the
best offer or take the easy and convenient path.
Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) is the lion of the Senate and the lion of American
progressivism, while Caroline Kennedy is America's first daughter who treats
her father's legacy as a precious trust. They endorsed Sen. Barack Obama
(D-Ill.) with a passion and a conviction that was extraordinary, and their
comparing Obama to John Kennedy was one of those special and unique moments,
so rare in American politics.
There have been many "new Kennedys" over the years, public officials who
sought to claim the mantle, some with more merit than others.
What is extraordinary about this moment, this week, in this campaign is that
Ted and Caroline Kennedy spoke so clearly, so passionately and with such
conviction on behalf of one leader, Barack Obama, whom they believe is the
true
inheritor of that mantle and that legacy.
It was a rare, special and extraordinary moment full of a passion for
justice and a very profound sense of history, mission and idealism. This
past week I wrote a column in The Hill, entitled "A President Like Her
Father," which follows in full, here:
Imagine this: On Jan. 20, 2009 a new young American president lifts the
nation and rallies the friends of freedom around the world with an inaugural
address to open a new chapter of a great nation.
Every so often there is a golden moment in the life of a generation when the
Rubicon is crossed, the page is turned, the torch is passed, and America
rises again.
One night when I was a young man, and the Senate worked late and the action
was slow, Lloyd Bentsen told me of the day he first met Jack Kennedy.
They had been elected to Congress as two young heroes returned from war. On
the floor one day, Bentsen spotted Kennedy and showed him his campaign
literature. Kennedy read it with that quizzical smile and said: "Lloyd, this
looks awfully familiar."
Turns out Bentsen had borrowed heavily from Kennedy's brochure. The fighting
sailor of the Pacific had become the brave bomber of the Atlantic. Two young
Americans entered Congress with great dreams for themselves and our country.
Lloyd Bentsen won landslides in Texas, bringing together whites, blacks and
Hispanics. President Kennedy, in June of 1963, in one of the greatest
presidential moments since Lincoln, told the nation that civil rights was a
moral duty that Americans must face with courage and principle.
It was a profile in true courage for JFK to challenge his electoral base in
the South. Fanning the flames of division is easy; dousing those flames is
hard; challenging those flames in times of crisis is presidential
leadership.
Faced with his own great crisis, while others panicked with tactics that do
not make us proud, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) was cool, calm, and right. At
the highest levels of leadership, under the greatest of attacks, Barack
Obama acted like a president.
And now the first daughter of America speaks from her heart and the lion of
the Senate roars with his passion for justice.
The torch is passed, the legacy lives on.
If God would grant me one wish in this season of discontent and hope, it
would be this: for a Kennedy, a King, and an Obama to stand together on the
soil that Cesar Chavez once graced, for an America that is forever young.
When Caroline Kennedy says that Obama would be a president like her father,
she speaks a thundering truth in her quiet and dignified voice. There are
many arguments for Obama but none stronger than this: He touches young
people in America who are inspired to lift our democracy, and young people
around the world who are America's greatest weapon in the battle of ideas of
our times.
Forty years ago this April, we lost Martin. Forty years ago this June, we
lost Bobby. Fifteen years ago this April, we lost Cesar. But in our America
that is forever young, we will never lose the dream or surrender the torch.
This is why Barack Obama has such powerful appeal to political independents
who make landslides possible. He speaks to the voice of a generation that
hungers to be heard, the heart of a nation that hungers to be healed, and
the spirit of a world that hungers to be inspired by an American president
once again.
[Brent asks that you crosspost your comments to The Hill, where this blog
entry also appears [1]. --JT]
--
NOTICE: This post contains copyrighted material the use of which has not
always been authorized by the copyright owner. I am making such material
available to advance understanding of
political, human rights, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues. I
believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of such copyrighted material as
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright
Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107
"A little patience and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their
spells dissolve, and the people recovering their true sight, restore their
government to its true principles. It is true that in the meantime we are
suffering deeply in spirit,
and incurring the horrors of a war and long oppressions of enormous public
debt. But if the game runs sometimes against us at home we must have
patience till luck turns, and then we shall have an opportunity of winning
back the principles we have lost, for this is a game where principles are at
stake."
-Thomas Jefferson
By Brent Budowsky
Created Feb 3 2008 - 6:27pm
Robert Kennedy often quoted Dante that the hottest places in hell are for
those who in times of crisis maintain their neutrality.
For Caroline Kennedy and for Ted Kennedy, the 2008 campaign was no time to
maintain neutrality. They did not calculate the odds or hold out for the
best offer or take the easy and convenient path.
Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) is the lion of the Senate and the lion of American
progressivism, while Caroline Kennedy is America's first daughter who treats
her father's legacy as a precious trust. They endorsed Sen. Barack Obama
(D-Ill.) with a passion and a conviction that was extraordinary, and their
comparing Obama to John Kennedy was one of those special and unique moments,
so rare in American politics.
There have been many "new Kennedys" over the years, public officials who
sought to claim the mantle, some with more merit than others.
What is extraordinary about this moment, this week, in this campaign is that
Ted and Caroline Kennedy spoke so clearly, so passionately and with such
conviction on behalf of one leader, Barack Obama, whom they believe is the
true
inheritor of that mantle and that legacy.
It was a rare, special and extraordinary moment full of a passion for
justice and a very profound sense of history, mission and idealism. This
past week I wrote a column in The Hill, entitled "A President Like Her
Father," which follows in full, here:
Imagine this: On Jan. 20, 2009 a new young American president lifts the
nation and rallies the friends of freedom around the world with an inaugural
address to open a new chapter of a great nation.
Every so often there is a golden moment in the life of a generation when the
Rubicon is crossed, the page is turned, the torch is passed, and America
rises again.
One night when I was a young man, and the Senate worked late and the action
was slow, Lloyd Bentsen told me of the day he first met Jack Kennedy.
They had been elected to Congress as two young heroes returned from war. On
the floor one day, Bentsen spotted Kennedy and showed him his campaign
literature. Kennedy read it with that quizzical smile and said: "Lloyd, this
looks awfully familiar."
Turns out Bentsen had borrowed heavily from Kennedy's brochure. The fighting
sailor of the Pacific had become the brave bomber of the Atlantic. Two young
Americans entered Congress with great dreams for themselves and our country.
Lloyd Bentsen won landslides in Texas, bringing together whites, blacks and
Hispanics. President Kennedy, in June of 1963, in one of the greatest
presidential moments since Lincoln, told the nation that civil rights was a
moral duty that Americans must face with courage and principle.
It was a profile in true courage for JFK to challenge his electoral base in
the South. Fanning the flames of division is easy; dousing those flames is
hard; challenging those flames in times of crisis is presidential
leadership.
Faced with his own great crisis, while others panicked with tactics that do
not make us proud, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) was cool, calm, and right. At
the highest levels of leadership, under the greatest of attacks, Barack
Obama acted like a president.
And now the first daughter of America speaks from her heart and the lion of
the Senate roars with his passion for justice.
The torch is passed, the legacy lives on.
If God would grant me one wish in this season of discontent and hope, it
would be this: for a Kennedy, a King, and an Obama to stand together on the
soil that Cesar Chavez once graced, for an America that is forever young.
When Caroline Kennedy says that Obama would be a president like her father,
she speaks a thundering truth in her quiet and dignified voice. There are
many arguments for Obama but none stronger than this: He touches young
people in America who are inspired to lift our democracy, and young people
around the world who are America's greatest weapon in the battle of ideas of
our times.
Forty years ago this April, we lost Martin. Forty years ago this June, we
lost Bobby. Fifteen years ago this April, we lost Cesar. But in our America
that is forever young, we will never lose the dream or surrender the torch.
This is why Barack Obama has such powerful appeal to political independents
who make landslides possible. He speaks to the voice of a generation that
hungers to be heard, the heart of a nation that hungers to be healed, and
the spirit of a world that hungers to be inspired by an American president
once again.
[Brent asks that you crosspost your comments to The Hill, where this blog
entry also appears [1]. --JT]
--
NOTICE: This post contains copyrighted material the use of which has not
always been authorized by the copyright owner. I am making such material
available to advance understanding of
political, human rights, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues. I
believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of such copyrighted material as
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright
Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107
"A little patience and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their
spells dissolve, and the people recovering their true sight, restore their
government to its true principles. It is true that in the meantime we are
suffering deeply in spirit,
and incurring the horrors of a war and long oppressions of enormous public
debt. But if the game runs sometimes against us at home we must have
patience till luck turns, and then we shall have an opportunity of winning
back the principles we have lost, for this is a game where principles are at
stake."
-Thomas Jefferson