ABC Marks End of Kennedys Holding Elected Office in Washington
By Brad Wilmouth | January 02, 2011 | 04:17
On ABC’s World News Saturday, correspondent John Hendren filed a report marking this year as the first time since 1947 that no members of the Kennedy family will hold public office in Washington, D.C. The piece began:
JOHN HENDREN: The sun has set on the Kennedy era. When Congress reconvenes next week, it will be the first time in 64 years that there has not been a Kennedy in office.
KATHLEEN KENNEDY TOWNSEND, DAUGHTER OF ROBERT F. KENNEDY: I think it's sad. I think that we need a Kennedy.
Hendren went on to recount the death of former Senator Ted Kennedy, "the Lion of the Senate," and the decision of Rhode Island Representative Patrick Kennedy to retire, as well as the shuffling of office space with the arrival of newly-elected Republicans. The ABC correspondent also noted that Tea Party-backed Rep. Ron Paul and Senator-elect Rand Paul are the only family members serving who will be serving concurrently in Congress.
Hendren concluded by offering a ray of hope for those would like to see the Kennedy family in government again:
HENDREN: There are still dozens of young Kennedys who could pick up the torch, so it's possible this is a gap and not the end of an era.
FORMER SENATOR TED KENNEDY (D-MA): The work begins anew, the hope rises again, and the dream lives on.
Below is a complete transcript of the report from the January 1, World News Saturday on ABC:
DAVID MUIR: And we turn now to politics tonight. And with the new year here, a new wave headed to Washington. And as so many Tea Party members arrive, the beginning of one era, the end of another. For the first time since 1947, there will be no Kennedys in Washington. Here’s John Hendren.
JOHN HENDREN: The sun has set on the Kennedy era. When Congress reconvenes next week, it will be the first time in 64 years that there has not been a Kennedy in office.
KATHLEEN KENNEDY TOWNSEND, DAUGHTER OF ROBERT F. KENNEDY: I think it's sad. I think that we need a Kennedy.
HENDREN: The last Kennedy, Patrick, Congressman from Rhode Island, has left the building.
REP. PATRICK KENNEDY (D-RI): I will not be a candidate for re-election this year.
HENDREN: His father, Senator Edward Kennedy, the Lion of the Senate, died in 2009. The new frontier on Capitol Hill has a distinctly Republican flavor. Replacing the Kennedys as the only father/son team on the Hill, Congressman Ron Paul and Senator-elect Rand Paul, Tea Party Republicans. Outgoing Congressman Patrick Kennedy’s office will go to a Republican. And here, Senator Ted Kennedy's third-floor office suite, 3500 square feet and a view of the Capitol that originally went to the man who won his Massachusetts Senate seat, Republican Scott Brown, but there wasn't much chance a junior Senator was going to be able to hold on to such prime real estate for long. Now, Brown is getting kicked out by the Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, bringing a new set of family photos to these walls. John Kennedy launched the family business in 1947 with his election to the House. He moved to the Senate. Then, in 1961, the White House. Brother Robert became attorney general. Ted joined the Senate two years later. They were bred for politics.
TOWNSEND: We had quizzes around the kitchen, you know, table. What's going on? What are you doing about it? That was part of, I think, the Kennedy legacy.
HENDREN: There are still dozens of young Kennedys who could pick up the torch, so it's possible this is a gap and not the end of an era.
FORMER SENATOR TED KENNEDY (D-MA): The work begins anew, the hope rises again, and the dream lives on.
HENDREN: John Hendren, ABC News, Capitol Hill.
- Brad Wilmouth's blog
- Login to post comments
Comments
The end of an era
Submitted by KC Mulville on Sun, 01/02/2011 - 4:42am.
This is a big moment that deserves adequate reflection.
Yeah, OK, so do think the Eagles should rest Michael Vick?
Good Idea KC
Submitted by Cool Arrow on Sun, 01/02/2011 - 5:30am.
It might give Vick time to have a Milk-Bone summit with Obama, Biden, and a few Pit Bulls.
delete
Submitted by Cool Arrow on Sun, 01/02/2011 - 5:31am.
darn! New NB format.
We want a refund
Submitted by DontFeedTheTrolls on Sun, 01/02/2011 - 6:15am.
Goodbye Kennedy Crime Family. Please return the hundreds of millions you stole and hid offshore.
Arrogance squared.
Submitted by motherbelt on Sun, 01/02/2011 - 6:55am.
KATHLEEN KENNEDY TOWNSEND, DAUGHTER OF ROBERT F. KENNEDY: I think it's sad. I think that we need a Kennedy.For what?????
We need a Kennedy?
Submitted by Firmworm on Sun, 01/02/2011 - 7:28am.
We need a Kennedy like we need a hole in the head. OOPS, never mind.
Yeah, we do
Submitted by EllisWyatt on Sun, 01/02/2011 - 9:34am.
{sniff} If we don't have a Kennedy, who is going to host those wild parties on K Street? It just won't be the same.
"Elections have consequences" ... unless the Republicans win
"Dissent is Patriotic" ... when it's against conservative policies.
We Need A Kennedy?
Submitted by GeneralAl on Sun, 01/02/2011 - 8:04am.
We need a Kennedy? Yeah, we need Obama too!
"Old Soldiers never die, they just fade away"!
Curiosity Is
Submitted by kilrod on Sun, 01/02/2011 - 8:15am.
Curiosity is my dumbwaiter, but who pays for that 3500sqft of prime real estate with a view?
(grins) kilrod "the Birther"
If an unborn child cannot trust you, why should I,??
Here in Rhode Island
Submitted by bolivar on Sun, 01/02/2011 - 8:55am.
we don't miss patty at all. Of course the morons around here elected an even bigger moron Cicilini so we have nothing to be proud of. Patty quit himself - he was an embarrassment and he actually had the sense to realize it. He was ONLY in the job cuz of daddy and now that he is taking a dirt nap he does not have to pretend he has a brain or sense.
Good riddance patty! You were an embarrassment and still are.
That last comment on Teddy
Submitted by bolivar on Sun, 01/02/2011 - 9:00am.
should read "the liar of the senate". Democrats cannot win on their REAL agenda so they HAVE to lie! Who would vote for socialism/communism????? Of course, they will tell you it is for YOUR good and the betterment of society as a whole but, all their actions do is add to their power - and at YOUR and my expense. Anybody that cannot see that needs eye checks - are they covered by obummercare?
Curious minds want to know.
Are we sure?
Submitted by ricklail on Sun, 01/02/2011 - 9:04am.
The way ole Joe and the rest of the crowd tomcatted around there could be a love child of one of the Kennedy's from the New England area. There are times that I believe that Snowe and Collins may be branch kin to the Kennedys. (Branch kin means that ole Joe peed in the branch and their mamas drank from it.)
I thought that Alan Grayson was the bastard son of Teddy. Look at how he acted. Teddy did spend time in Florida.
Term Limits.
Submitted by johnsonl on Sun, 01/02/2011 - 9:08am.
Term Limits.
I never thought
Submitted by ripper58 on Sun, 01/02/2011 - 9:19am.
I'd see the day that a Kennedy wasn't in office!!!
THANK YOU JESUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
Errah, thankfully Newbusters is also now Kennedy-free
Submitted by SickofLibs on Sun, 01/02/2011 - 9:22am.
Errah, Happy New Year.
The distilled spirits industry and the legions of tax attorneys
Submitted by no tingly legs on Sun, 01/02/2011 - 10:01am.
that clan employs to ensure their fortunes escape taxation (while average Americans get screwed) no doubt are in mourning, but me not so much.
Wait....
Submitted by tampamom25 on Sun, 01/02/2011 - 10:44am.
Do I hear strains of the Hallelujah Chorus wafting on the winds???
it will be OK
Submitted by MidAmerica on Sun, 01/02/2011 - 11:47am.
Lady Liberty was tired of being fondled by this clan of priviledged womanizers.
Sorry Kathleen
Submitted by Metsie62 on Sun, 01/02/2011 - 12:13pm.
Hey Kathleen......your politically entitlement grubbing family saw the last embarrassment ...little Patrick reading the political tea leaves and finally got out....maybe your clan of rapists and reputation slammers, drunks and addicts will finally put a lid on it.
PS Your Mom Ethel is considered a very classy lady....even by conservative standards. Perhaps she can hold a beer summit with Political Pariah "Jimmy Carter" and show him how an elderly respected Democrat should act
Vicky Kennedy is being "urged" to run
Submitted by raccoonradio on Sun, 01/02/2011 - 1:00pm.
Don't know if she will, and she has denied having any interest but you never know. She may be asked to take on Scott Brown.There is a facebook group with thousands of members
http://www.irishcentral.com/story/news/periscope/vicki-kennedy-now-likel...
>>"Will Vicki Kennedy run for her late husband's seat after all now that she has moved back to Massachusetts? My guess is she will. Kennedy family sources confirm this. The Boston Herald revealed last week that Kennedy is moving into a penthouse overlooking Commonwealth Avenue after selling her Washington D.C. home. Scott Brown is up for re-election in 2012 and Vicki has still not got over the fact that Teddy’s seat went to a Republican."
For the MSM,. Kennedy political-prowess is . . .
Submitted by Galvanic on Sun, 01/02/2011 - 6:12pm.
. . . transferred via sexual intercourse, or at least that's what Kennedy males tell their mistresses.
Even the state of Maryland doesn't need a Kennedy, as evidenced when Kathleen Kennedy Townsend was wisely defeated in her gubernatorial bid.
Sorry for the Sunday morning rant, but......
Submitted by Tomorama on Sun, 01/02/2011 - 1:33pm.
Living in this gadawful state of crooks, liars and Kennedy's (same thing...) I have to listen to this bullshit over and over on the local ABC affiliate (this was on last night) and in the globe......
I hate this FN family with every fiber of my being and I beg that "I slept with a fat, murdering socialist pig Teddy" so elect me Vicki runs, I look forward to beating the snot out of her and making the Kennedy's piss some of their own bootlegged money away.
F every damn one of em'.
Tomorama
Submitted by well99 on Sun, 01/02/2011 - 6:00pm.
Two things to celebrate today.Pats win and No Kennedy in office.
These network sycophants scare me
Submitted by locomotivebreath1901 on Sun, 01/02/2011 - 1:53pm.
First, with their own stated slavish worship of gub'mint as provider:
"John Kennedy launched the family business in 1947 with his election to the House."
"Family business?" Seriously? The business of what? Pandering?
I doubt these network sycophants would be so generous in their description of the Bushes.
The second reason these network sycophants scare me is their blatant ignorance of history in favor of idol worship:
"...the first time since 1947 that no members of the Kennedy family will hold public office in Washington, D.C."
This is FALSE.
From 1960 to 1962, Benjamin A. Smith II was appointed to serve as the U.S. Senator from Massachusetts. Mr. Smith filled the spot vacated by President-elect John Kennedy until Kennedy's younger brother, future murderer, and drunk, Teddy, became old enough to run for that office and win election. ABC news, indeed.Surely the Democrats can come up with...
Submitted by bigdaddy on Sun, 01/02/2011 - 2:20pm.
...A philandering, alchoholic, socialist, corrupt, Senator to take the place of a Kennedy.
So many to choose from...
I'd vote for a Kennedy...
Submitted by KyWriter on Sun, 01/02/2011 - 3:03pm.
...only if Mary Jo Kopechne tells me to.
She would have
Submitted by jon_torlin on Sun, 01/02/2011 - 3:28pm.
Any time before her death, she would have. She was a huge supporter of the Kennedy's. Had she survived, certainly she would change her tune. But that's the problem, just like the election of the bogus potus, people find out first hand TOO LATE when someone is bad news after all.
-Jon
Somebody remind these Kennedys...
Submitted by drsamherman on Sun, 01/02/2011 - 4:47pm.
...that they are NOT entitled to hold any office by virtue of being born into that family! This is the United States of America, not some corrupt aristocracy despite what grandiosity the Kennedys assumed and the DNC threw upon them over years of enabling miscreant behavior.
Kennedy = Irish Mafia
Submitted by NL207 on Sun, 01/02/2011 - 6:19pm.
.
Does this mean that the left
Submitted by Cowboy on Sun, 01/02/2011 - 5:57pm.
Does this mean that the left can finally stop talking about "Kennedy's seat" in the Senate?
Don’t worry, John
Submitted by needle on Sun, 01/02/2011 - 6:14pm.
“JOHN HENDREN: The sun has set on the Kennedy era. When Congress reconvenes next week, it will be the first time in 64 years that there has not been a Kennedy in office.”
Don’t worry, John; in spirit the Kennedys still have a complete lock on the alphabet media (which is becoming more irrelevant day by day).
- Looking forward to the self-annihilation of the Manipulated Stories Machine.
Is the media advocating for
Submitted by Chris Norman on Sun, 01/02/2011 - 7:17pm.
Is the media advocating for an American version of the UK's House of Lords? Who in the American "nobility" can we put in it? The Kennedy's and the...Kennedys? Maybe we can have a third house of Congress called tthe "House of Kennedys", where they can vote all day long for new taxes and governmnent programs, but they will have no power to send them on to the other chambers. Oh, and The House of Kennedys can also double as a big AA meeting.
House of Kennedys
Submitted by Agnostic on Sun, 01/02/2011 - 7:27pm.
We had that until they arrested Deborah Jeane Palfrey and shut down the Pamela Martin and Associates agency. Kind of blew the deal for all the political families - if you will pardon the pun.
How about instead of the sun has set
Submitted by hbnolikeee on Mon, 01/03/2011 - 12:02am.
the toilet bowl has flushed? Seems more appropriate to me.
No longer?
Submitted by Ted Nicols on Mon, 03/07/2011 - 9:00am.
No public office, no standing desk? Surprising.. Maybe it's for the better, the times when power was in the hands of a few families have passed.. I can't believe they've constantly been around since 1947.. it's been a long time.. I wonder how it is like to be bred for politics and not get involved in politics by one's own choice...