After suffering a seizure over the weekend, Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts has been diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor and “might have only a limited time to live”. I knew They would eventually get around to finishing off the Kennedy brother triumvirate. It’s the final piece in the conspiracy.
Ted Kennedy is one of my only living political heroes. I do not always agree with him or think that he is beyond fault, but he’s one of the few Democratic icons left in the United States who is still in office, carrying Kennedy blood, crusading optimism, and a semblance of wizened sageness. When he’s gone, who will fearlessly carry the banner in Congress for sensible Liberalism? Barney Frank? Joe Biden? Nancy Pelosi? Chris Dodd?
Speaking of maligant tumors poised on destroying the Democratic party… poor Hillary. Even though she ran an uninspiring campaign filled with unseemly political posturing and ploys, it’s hard not to feel a dull feminine ache as her once-inevitable nomination grows increasingly impossible. Had she not been riding on her husband’s slick oiled Democratic machinery and actually earned her political success through grassroots sweat n’ tears, I would surely be experiencing pangs of emotion from surges of sympathy estrogen.
Yesterday, while presumptive Republican nominee John McCain criticized Barack Obama’s “reckless judgement” on Iran during a non sequitur speech to the National Restaurant Association, his fellow Republicans in the House of Representatives met to re-brand their message to an increasingly hostile electorate. “Sobered” by a string of election loses, the Republicans plan to theme their new message of fiscal restraint as “The Change You Deserve” (here). The seven-point proposal features familiar conservative rallying points such as extending the existing welfare work requirement. How wonderful to see the Republican party return to its core message of scapegoating our most impoverished citizens. Where is Ted Kennedy when you need him?
