Senator Kennedy writes of his feelings about Senator Kerry in his book.

[wisteria]

I feel like a bit of a voyeur, because the book hasn't been released yet, but Senator Kennedy's words regarding Senator Kerry just move me to tears.

Like this,
According to the memoir, when they knocked on the door of Kerry’s Beacon Hill townhouse, the housekeeper, Gabby, answered and said Kerry and Teresa Heinz were asleep. Kennedy offered to leave, he wrote, but Gabby said Kerry would be upset to know that Kennedy had been there and gone, so she insisted on waking him up.

Vicki spotted Kerry first when he came downstairs. “What a drag, isn’t it,’’ Kerry said, and they hugged. Kennedy first shook Kerry’s hand, then the two of them embraced.

“ ‘My friend, how are you doing?’ I asked him. He replied, ‘There are so many things I wanted to do for this country.’ ’’

Kennedy wrote that he was “deeply moved’’ by the reaction of someone he described as a “war hero.’’

and,

“He wasn’t bitter or angry,’’ the memoir said. “And he wasn’t really focused on himself. He was down about the opportunities lost to move the country in a new, more progressive direction.’’

There is more here,

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/09/04/between_senators_a_bond_of_friendship/

[Inuca]

1. Double

:cry:

[ObamaKerryDem]

6. I second this. What wonderful men....both of them.

Senator Kennedy was a true friend, there for JK in a moment where it probably wasn't the most popular or even convenient thing to do so. And of coruse, over the years, JK had been there for him as well and has done a superb job this past week of keeping his memory alive and carrying the torch. :)

And even nearly 5 years later, reading and thinking about that election and the time immediately following it still gets me, especially what Teddy quoted JK as saying.:cry: How heartfelt and selfless of him. It would've been so easy for him to have said "the hell with it" and just feel sorry for himself, but he was still thinking of us and the country and seemed more pained about that than he (quite understandably, might I add. It was probably a bitter, personal dissapointment, though I feel he did very well for the circumstances, which I think we all know were less than ideal or fair..) might've been for himself. What a wonderful man and public servant he is for that and in general and Ted for what he wrote and in general as well. I'm definitely going to be picking up a copy of this book!

[wisteria]

7. Your right. And. Senator Kennedy kind words reinforce many of our POV in regards to Senator Kerry. n

[MBS]

2. I got onto DU just to post this for you guys!

I kept thinking, "oh everyone will love this one." Thanks for getting it out there, wisteria. I saw the article in hard copy this morning, and it got my day off to a perfect start.
Thanks, Teddy. O8) :toast: :loveya: :loveya: :toast:

And, wow, going to his house at 2:30 am to console him. That is true friendship, and heart.
I can't wait to read the whole memoir.

[TayTay]

3. I am sorry this book has come out so close to the death of Sen. Kennedy

It feeds a media need to "get" a topic and chew the life and meaning out of it.

Human beings are complicated. Teddy Kennedy was a complicated man. He was both a steely warrior and a very delicate human being who suffered a lot in life. I fear that this distinction will be lost. The Senator will be categorized and put on a shelf. His life will be thought of as "solved" like some crossword puzzle and then discarded.

We feel the lives of others through our own hearts and our own sense of compassion. This requires time. People are not there to feed a news cycle. People, even the famous ones, are not fodder for some vast media machine. Michael Jackson is not "solved." He was a talented man with problems. I cannot take sides on his life. I can try and understand parts of his life, think about what it meant and how, if at all, it impacts my life and sense of ethics and purpose. But I can't "solve" him. I can't vote in some online poll about the meaning of his life. It is a cruel and deeply stupid way to view others.

I fear this is going to be done to Teddy Kennedy. He was both saint and sinner, imperfect and striving, a man who sought to live with his own demons and use knowledge of life's heartbreak to enlarge his own sense of compassion and knowledge of human nature and human frailty.

[MBS]

4. Actually, I think the publication date might be a good thing

The media was going to do its simplified version of Teddy's life anyway. And, from everything I've read about this memoir so far, it sounds like Teddy's book could serve as an antidote to any attempts at simplistic judgment and caricature. And, actually, the memorial service and funeral also helped as well.
Also, to be fair to the media, I've read/seen lots of commentary already on the complexity of Teddy's personhood and life, even among the sound-byte-living Talking Heads. .. . including commentary that Teddy's life is the perfect example of how you can't capture the full measure of a person, or the full meaning of his life, by just focusing on one aspect of it.

[wisteria]

5. I agree, but at the same time, this larger than life man can be seen as being human,

just like all of us, with mistakes and regrets. And, it also serves to demonstrate how a person can make the bad into good and turn his life around.

He must of felt a need to get this "off his chest". I am just sorry that time was not given before the excerpts of this book were released, for all of us to heal and remember Senator Kennedy in our own special way.

[beachmom]

8. Yup. I unfortunately came across a horrible column written by Andrew Breitbart

which compared Ted Kennedy and Michael Jackson, with it ending up being an incredible insult to both of them. But the comparison was absurd, of course. The two had nothing to do with each other (well, before his career went downhill, MJ was a good fundraiser for Democrats). But for conservatives, they like to paint people in black and white, with Democrats and other rejected members of society decidedly, "black".

I think conservatives and the media mesh well with each other. I really do, and that is sad.