Dan Barry, who pens the "This Land" column for the New York Times, filed an ostensibly straight news story for Sunday's front page from the late Sen. Ted Kennedy's funeral at Arlington National Cemetery, "Kennedy Mourners Memorialize 'Soul of the Democratic Party." Instead, Barry got caught up in strained poeticism positioning Kennedy for secular sainthood.
The nation said final farewell on Saturday to Edward M. Kennedy, who used his privileged life to give consistent, passionate voice to the underprivileged for nearly a half-century as a United States senator from Massachusetts. He was the only one of four fabled Kennedy brothers to reach late adulthood, and he was remembered for making the most of it.
Along the rain-dappled roadways of Boston in the late morning, and then in the sweltering humidity of Washington in early evening, people waited for the fleeting moment of a passing hearse so that they could pay respects to the man known simply as Ted. At the United States Capitol, where Mr. Kennedy had served for so long, his wife, Victoria Reggie Kennedy, stepped out of a limousine to receive hugs, bow her head during prayers, and to hear the singing of "America the Beautiful."
....
And it was during that portion of the Mass, when prayers of hope are shared, that his grandchildren, nieces and nephews stepped up to the microphone to express once more Ted Kennedy's political and human desires:
That human beings be measured not by what they cannot do but by what they can do. That quality health care becomes a fundamental right and not a privilege. That the old politics of race and gender die away. That newcomers be accepted, no matter their color or place of birth. That the nation stand united against violence, hate and war. And, in echo of his famous words, that the work begins anew, the hope arises anew, and the dream lives on.
Even taking into account necessary respect and appreciation for the dead, isn't it a bit much to laud Kennedy's politics so brazenly on the front page of the Times?
Barry has the self-control to only mention "Camelot" once, but it was pretty nauseating. Apparently Obama is now the new resident of that liberal fantasyland:
After Holy Communion, Mr. Obama delivered the eulogy for the man whose endorsement in the 2008 campaign was like the passing of a sword from Camelot, helping enormously in giving this country its first African-American president.
....
Mr. Kennedy was also a family man, lover of the arts, prankster, charmer, sailor. And that is the image the president left with the congregation: "Of a man on a boat, white mane tousled, smiling broadly as he sails into the wind, ready for whatever storms may come, carrying on toward some new and wondrous place just beyond the horizon."
"May God bless Ted Kennedy," the president said. "And may he rest in eternal peace."
Barry got to that bothersome business about Mary Jo Kopechne in paragraph 21, reducing her to a subordinate clause:
Watching from under an umbrella, not far away, was his widow, in a black suit offset by a string of pearls. They married in 1992, after which she helped to transform him from a man, scarred by loss and personal failings -- not the least his role in the death of Mary Jo Kopechne, just 29, in a car accident in 1969 -- into an elder statesman.
Barry concluded with more excerpts from Creative Writing 201:
Soon, seven riflemen were firing three volleys. Soon, the shadow of a bugler was playing "Taps," as heat lightning stunned the night sky. Arlington was dark; a long day had ended. But come Sunday morning, cemetery officials say, the green of the grass will be smooth again, the hole filled, the sod laid. Only then it will feature a white wooden cross made by the cemetery's carpenter, and a white marble marker that bears the name of another Kennedy, this one as distinct and as human and as accomplished as the others, a man in his own right.
EDWARD MOORE KENNEDY, it will say. 1932-2009
—Clay Waters is the director of Times Watch, an MRC project tracking the New York Times.
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This is some borderline gay
August 31, 2009 - 15:57 ET by arkansaszippersThis is some borderline gay stuff right here.
Man of many colors -- mostly yellow
August 31, 2009 - 15:57 ET by GalvanicMr. Kennedy was also a family man,
Tell that to Joan Kennedy and watch the reaction .
lover of the arts,
Particularly fond of culinary arts, such as making a waitress sandwich
prankster, charmer,
And the joke's on us
sailor.
To be more accurate: submariner.
How about driver - - -
He drove Joan Kennedy to drink . . .
He drove Mary Jo Kopechne to her death . . .
And he drove us crazy!
LOL. Barf bags all around!
August 31, 2009 - 16:00 ET by jazbo"Democrats; Breeding voters like farm animals since 1962"
Family Man?
August 31, 2009 - 16:04 ET by BondPlainBondMaybe in the very, very latter days of his life. But for the vast majority of his life... no way.
Are the definitions I use different than those of the media?
As I understand this article, Kennedy is seen by the media as 'family man'.
A "Family Man" picks up single women, while very drunk, and drives them off bridges, leaving them trapped in the car to die.
Was that Kennedy's "stand against violence"? Leaving the scene of the accident he cause so he wouldn't have to witness the violence he perpetrated upon the young woman he left in the car to die?
Can't that be considered "hate"? Hate in its purest form? Knowingly, willingly, and deliberately leaving someone to die and only reporting the incident hours and hours after it occurred?
Kennedy was anticipating a "war" between his family and the media and, being the coward he was, sought to avoid that war at all costs.
Only because he was a "Kennedy" was he even allowed to keep his job, personal and political standing, and his money.
Later in life he lied to save his equally cowardly nephew from being prosecuted for rape. Again, being a "Kennedy" is what turned the tide.
Yeah. Right. Certainly someone to laud.
The past dozen or so articles regarding how the media felt about Kennedy, so highly, ignoring that which would never be ignored had the individual carried an (R) after their name, demonstrate the constant and delusional state of these so-called journalists. Products of the liberal indoctrinations.
Pathetic reporting. From all of them.
Family Man????
August 31, 2009 - 16:05 ET by Airforce_5_ODoes that mean he shared the Jack Daniels and hookers with the family? Nothing like a Ruffy-colada to get the girl in the mood for the whole clan at the compound.
Liberalism: The haunting feeling that someone, somewhere, can help themselves.
Yeah yeah yeah. You know
August 31, 2009 - 16:06 ET by Six String SpiffYeah yeah yeah.
You know something? I don't know anybody who WOULDN'T stand for those things. You see, NYT, there is this thing called reality, and the reality is that democrats don't hold a monopoly on all that is decent (wait didn't I just say this in another thread?). There are some Republicans who are *gasp* good people. I am sick and tired of this "We stand against violence!" as if to say the other party doesn't. I don't even know why I'm wasting perfectly good brain cells on this as we all know the NYT and discredited are synonymous, but I am a glutton for punishment I guess.
Hey NYT, hows that newspaper business goin?
oh my bad
All Kennedys are exempted, of course...
August 31, 2009 - 16:43 ET by wnaegeleSigh!
The nation said final
August 31, 2009 - 16:46 ET by MidAmericaThe nation said final farewell on Saturday to Edward M. Kennedy, who used his privileged life to give consistent, passionate voice to the underprivileged for nearly a half-century as a United States senator from Massachusetts.
Yes teddy, a man of inherited wealth was very generous with other peoples money when he designed programs that other people had to pay for. However his family's fortune and priveledged lifestyle was never theatened.
Cold Blooded Killer
August 31, 2009 - 17:00 ET by BigMike252Ed was a Cold Blooded Killer!
End of Story!
'Stand United Against Violence, Hate and War'
August 31, 2009 - 17:46 ET by Gary HallMmm. Let's see. It would, without a doubt, appear to most folks in this country that the the radical Islamic [terrorist] groups, like Al Qaeda and the Taliban are synonymous with "Violence, Hate and War."
OK, Dan Berry. Give it your best shot: just what kind of a "United" stand' do you suggest against the likes of such?
Can I hear it for, "bomb them with butter?"
Whoppie!
(;~/ gary
A family man?
August 31, 2009 - 17:50 ET by P. AaronTo which family? Washington D.C., his, legally wedded and matrimonial family, the Senate, or the hooch?
He was loyal to but one or 2 of those choices. Any answer might be correct.
Re Family Values
August 31, 2009 - 19:38 ET by slickwillie2001The father, Joseph P. Kennedy, would bring his girlfriends to the family estates in Hyannisport and Florida, when Rose was there. She learned to put up with it, putting her husband's career first. All the Kennedy boys learned 'family values' from their father. Later, when John and Robert and Teddie were in Washington, the Kennedy boys would line up 'dates', little more than hookers, for their father when he came to visit them.
Philandering often seems to run in families.
Re Mary Jo, there's a wide range of narrative on her, all the way from an uptight Catholic career-girl to practically a political groupie infatuated with the Kennedys. The truth likely is somewhere between those extremes. I suspect that there is much more about the night of the murder that we will never know.
EDWARD MOORE KENNEDY...
August 31, 2009 - 18:19 ET by JPR1Oh that explains it.
Moore, as in "Brrring some mooore Chivas there will yaa toots."
words of true wisdom from someone who has credibility
August 31, 2009 - 19:07 ET by lotr"Let's wrap him up, alright?" -- Keith Olbermann
'Edward M. Kennedy, who
August 31, 2009 - 19:15 ET by Cooltom'Edward M. Kennedy, who used his privileged life to give consistent, passionate voice to the underprivileged'
I bet if you scan the visitors logs at Hyannisport you you fail to find a single guest with a net worth of less than $10 million. Liberals like to ''champion'' the poor but go to great lengths to actually keep company with them.
Great thought
August 31, 2009 - 19:23 ET by general companyWise and true! Our society is a mess. The only morality ever taught these days, is , well there is none. Everything goes, especially if you had to over come one of lives obstacles?
My Gov. thinks I am dangerous, so be careful
"Television is a freak show" Bernie Goldberg
I never saw his name
August 31, 2009 - 19:15 ET by pepsimanI never saw his name anywhere near a philanthropic list....being generous with o.p.m. is alot different than dipping into the ole trust fund and helping people in need. let's call a spade a spade here ..the guy was a scumbag and i'm glad he's finally dead. His flawed character reared it's ugly head even at the very end with his dying wish to rewrite the law again regarding his seat.. burn baby burn
Family values? Did Teddy
August 31, 2009 - 19:44 ET by nyyankee55Family values? Did Teddy get a go at Jackie too? She was passed around enough- the witch was a money grubber
Underprivileged cocktail waitresses...
August 31, 2009 - 23:29 ET by m4ster chiefAre the female staff of the upper-crust cocktail lounges he patronized sorry to see him throw off his slimy mortal coil?
Are they sorry to know they will no more be chased around the building by a drunken, slobbering and spitting, obscenity hurling U. S. senator who, minus his pee-soaked trousers, would try his best to finger them in secret places and pinch them in painful places, leaving bruises that needed to be explained to jealous boyfriends or husbands. The Old Kennedy Lion might whisper ugly propositions in their ears...maybe favor them with the latest bridge joke, or kiss them on the mouth with his own vomit-encrusted lips and stanky-fart breath.
Oh yes...The Lyin' Lion of the Kennedy Clan is fallen, is fallen...but that is nothing new for him except this time all his ill-gotten money can't buy his way into the paradise reserved for the righteous.
Typical NYT baloney
September 1, 2009 - 06:53 ET by nadadhimmiThe average, reasonable man reads this sort of comment from the msm, and looses more regard for them daily. Most people trust used car salesman more now than "journalists" or politicians. People are now discovering we are "ruled" by an oligarchy, without any difference between parties. The GOP are sychophants and the Dems out and out communists.
September 1, 2009 - 09:54 ET by jessieHIn every MSM post, not one word about Kennedy being a murderer. It was no accident. It was a murder & a cover-up.
How many more of this
September 1, 2009 - 18:21 ET by RR GOPHow many more of this real-life Addams Family are there? Is Kerry going to stay on as the butler?
One of the 34% who thinks George W. Bush was a great President. One of the 86% who wants to bring back the stock and pillory.