If the aphorism de mortuis nil nisi bonum instructs us to speak only good of people who have passed away, perhaps there is a corrollary applicable to those dealing with a dread disease. While I am thus somewhat reluctant to do so, I cannot let pass without comment Mike Barnicle's words about Ted Kennedy on today's Morning Joe.
MIKE BARNICLE: Last night when he came out, it was clearly a bittersweet experience. There was a tinge of sadness to it, to be frank about it. He's an enormously courageous man . . . You know, I've encountered very few people of my life, Joe, who are more extraordinarily attuned to others who are in pain. Whether it's physical pain, whether it's something caused by an illness. Whether it's an accident of fate, whether it's something that has befallen them, some tragedy of any sort. He is uniquely equipped to reach out to people who are hurt and damaged.
View video here.
Now it should be said that as many of us have learned in the course of the coverage of his illness, and as Barnicle and Scarborough described, Kennedy does have a long tradition of extending a variety of kindnesses to those in pain. He apparently does this behind the scenes and without fanfare. But how was it possible for Barnicle to say what he said, and for Joe to second it as he did, without mentioning Chappaquiddick, if only to describe how Kennedy has grown since then?
Barnicle is shown in the screencap displaying his "Tedstrong" wristband, a variation on Lance Armstrong's Livestrong. Barnicle mentioned that Kennedy is passing them out at the convention.
—Mark Finkelstein is a NewsBusters contributing editor and host of Right Angle. Contact him at mark@gunhill.net.
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I agree about speaking well
August 26, 2008 - 06:36 ET by taterI agree about speaking well of the dead or those with a horrible illness but does Tony Snow ring a bell?
www.theholyrosary.org
"There is no problem, I tell you, no matter how difficult it is, that we can not resolve by the prayer of the Holy Rosary." -Sister Lucia
Yeah, I'm sure Ted was
August 26, 2008 - 06:54 ET by motherbeltYeah, I'm sure Ted was really attuned to Mary Jo's pain.....
Oh S%^t ...what's the point?
PS...what is the point of the "Tedstrong" bracelet?
That's a serious question, not a dig.
Like Ted Bundy reaching out
August 26, 2008 - 08:37 ET by kgLike Ted Bundy reaching out to victims of murder.
"Forget change, I want improvement!"
BEAT ME TO THE PUNCH...
August 26, 2008 - 10:35 ET by danybhoymotherbelt,
You would think that Barnicle, who is a Boston media hack, would know better then then to make that kind of remark. Then again, Barnicle knows that most of the viewers(they have a few hundred here & there)have their head up their @$$ or don't don't give a damn that he killed her we back when because it happened a long time ago. I just wonder who said it first, with Baricle's history as a plagorist.
While I do wish Kennedy good health, he is a living example of why we need term limits. The founding fathers would be appalled by Uncle Teddy, Sheets Byrd, the ole'Dixicrat Stromm, & any other gov't hack who spends 25-50 years in office.
Just a thought, if Biden ever became President somehow, Barnicle would make a perfect speechwritter/advisor, Joe could use what Mike feeds him, which he would steal from someone else. I also can post this thought knowing that there is almost NO CHANCE IN HELL that this will happen.
"...it's still We The People, Right?" Megadeth
Unless
August 26, 2008 - 06:53 ET by Spock"He is uniquely equipped to reach out to people who are hurt and damaged."
Unless your name happens to be Mary Joe right?
I'm sorry. I can respect a lot of people, but this blight is not one of them.
I am under no such constraints
August 26, 2008 - 06:53 ET by theduck6I do not hope for the demise on Teddy but if this removes him from the political stage it will be a net plus for the country. How many stories must the voters of Mass. have ignored about he and Dodd sexually harrassing waitresses while drunk under tables in DC? The drunken gaffes recorded for posterity? The negligent homocide of an innocent young girl? Does Mass. want to cecede? That would be a net plus as well considering the empty suit that is their junior senator. Hmmm eastern Canada is just about as lefty loonie as they.
Here's the deal!
August 26, 2008 - 13:21 ET by IamTinmanWe trade New England for western Canada. We may have some problems with Vancouver, but the rest should go for it.
Rich
August 26, 2008 - 07:02 ET by BeanManTed Kennedy is a multi-millionaire. He lives in a gated community that the little people never see in Northern VA just along the Potomoc River.
Basically he has a lot of money to be generous with. Does he give a "tithe" of his money i.e. 10%? If he has $100M and gives $100K of it to charity, big deal.
Remember the widow's mite.
I have no respect or affection for Ted Kennedy. He has caused the vacuuming of my hard earned money to faceless bureaucrats for many many years just to get himself re-elected and has accused me of being a bad person just by virtue of who I am.
I won't speak bad of him but when he dies my life will go on as before and I won't give him a second thought.
Since government is coercion, politics is largely the exercise of deception regarding the intended use of coercion - George Orwell
Beanman, I'll do the speaking for you.
August 26, 2008 - 13:34 ET by IamTinmanTed Kennedy is a serial philanderer, likely guilty of at least negligent homicide, and a habitual drunk. He is a disgrace to his family, his political party and to the congressional office that he holds. He is also one of congresses most prolific spenders of my tax dollars. I'll shed no tears for him.
What is on display from
August 26, 2008 - 07:04 ET by ConservativeRexWhat is on display from anyone who goes on TV and raves of the courage of Ed Kennedy is their complete lack of irony.
As with any liberal of any consequence the past is whitewashed and , "why do you ask" attitude rules.
The left just let's these talking heads go on and on with their BS, they'll never correct them If we are the right mention the obvious bias there's something wrong with us. We're not crying about it, but facts are facts and we on the right realize it.
Unavailable
August 26, 2008 - 07:05 ET by owr084Mary Jo Kopechne was unavailable for comment...
Naaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
August 26, 2008 - 07:14 ET by cvgbuckeyeNaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!. This one is just way to easy!
Was this a test? I think I
August 26, 2008 - 07:29 ET by USA4freedomWas this a test?
I think I will just pass..
Ronald Reagan, 1962: I did not leave the Democratic party, the party left me.
Insert: your name, 2008, and the Republican party.
No test yet USA
August 26, 2008 - 07:32 ET by Cool ArrowWe'll cross that bridge when we come to it.
I ♣ my seal
just
August 26, 2008 - 07:51 ET by USA4freedomjust checking...lol
Ronald Reagan, 1962: I did not leave the Democratic party, the party left me.
Insert: your name, 2008, and the Republican party.
Come on USA
August 26, 2008 - 07:56 ET by Cool ArrowYou knew somebody had to drag out that old joke, now didn't you?
Next up would be this, right?
I ♣ my seal
Cool Arrow: Too Funny!
August 26, 2008 - 09:12 ET by Secret ConservativeEverybody click on the link in the previous post. LOL!!!
During Caroline's speech and the video tribute to Teddy I distinctly heard a giant sucking sound coming from the general direction of my wallet - which is where the money came from to fund most of Ted Kennedy's generosity over the years.
Ann Coulter got it right. The logo for the Democrat party should be Ted Kennedy emerging soaking wet from the ocean with an empty whiskey bottle in one hand and a pair of dripping pantyhose in the other. Maybe with Bill Clinton standing by to give him a hand...
Lampoon VW ad
August 26, 2008 - 09:15 ET by Cool ArrowNational Lampoon VW ad.
That's a hard pic to find. It's almost been scrubbed from the net entirely.
I ♣ my seal
My son's a CG artist...maybe
August 26, 2008 - 09:29 ET by marpelMy son's a CG artist...maybe I can get him to do the Ann Coulter suggestion...LOL
(No subject)
August 26, 2008 - 07:55 ET by cocodrieMary Jo
August 26, 2008 - 07:53 ET by cocodrieI was not surprised
August 26, 2008 - 08:02 ET by marpelI was not surprised Barnicle feels this way about crazy Uncle Ted with his tumor named Mary Jo...
But, Mark, did you see the fight (at first I thought it was a mock fight, but then I knew it was serious) between Shuster and Scarborough? OMG. Shuster actually said he was not in the tank for anyone; that he's an independant. I was stunned. But, Joe blasted him and after about 10 minutes of bickering regarding the troop pullout in Iraq, I didn't see Shuster again. Good. Good riddance. :o) Made my day!!
marpel
August 26, 2008 - 08:06 ET by Cool ArrowI saw that segment this morning too.
Scarbrough was in a state of total disbelief with Shumer's "I'm an independent"
Thrashed him thouroughly.
I ♣ my seal
Unintentional Comedy
August 26, 2008 - 08:02 ET by daddysykThis mental midget has no idea how ridiculous his comments are. Just once I would like to see ANY person in the news mention his past when they are waxing eloquent about him. He is like the Mel Brooks character "its good to be the King." Not only Mary Jo but all the other women this slug & his scumbag brothers have used and abused during their lives? I never wish personal harm on anyone but the sooner this p.o.s. leaves the gov't the better we all will be. Massachusetts should lose its voting rights.
"The world needs ditch diggers too." ---Judge Smails
I did a double-take at the title of this blog
August 26, 2008 - 08:06 ET by ksimm81I am sure the Kopechne family would say otherwise.
He is uniquely equipped to
August 26, 2008 - 09:18 ET by fitzfongHe is uniquely equipped to reach out to people who are hurt and damaged...
...by calling up Joe Gargan to help him recreate the method by which they were hurt or damaged.
"Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it." -Ronald Reagan
fitzfong.blogspot.com
Mike Barnicle's useless observation about Ted Kennedy...
August 26, 2008 - 09:42 ET by ThalpyMike Barnicle's useless observations about Ted Kennedy only help confirm our judgement about the MSM. I believe that the point that should be made is that Ted Kennedy's brain tumor in no way provides absolution for the devastation he has left in his self-serving wake.
Another lib commentator
August 26, 2008 - 10:51 ET by Hunter12Another lib commentator scrubbing the stains from the clay feet of his liberal god.
"An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last." - Sir Winston Churchill
Mary Jo didn't suffer any,
August 26, 2008 - 13:54 ET by bigtimerMary Jo didn't suffer any, she wasn't in pain...
...while he swam away...and stayed away.
Yeah, he's a real man for the suffering people.
I heard Sweet Caroline say something last night regarding how wonderful her Uncle was blah blah blah... that was the first thing I yelled out...ask Mary Jo about that.
Wished I'd of wrote down the line she spoke.
They really all think we have short memories out here in the real world...
I cannot stand any of the Kennedy's..least of all Uncle Teddy.
"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh