Near the end of the 12 pm Eastern hour of the CNN program, anchor Tony Harris asked the liberal presidential historian and CBS commentator, “You hear...about some of the failings in the senator’s life, and what is it about us as people that- on a day like today- a day like yesterday, we are willing to, in many cases, look past some of those failings, and focus in on the positive arc of a person’s life?” Brinkley played up Kennedy’s Catholic background, and instead using the “martyr” term he used on Wednesday, used more general religious language in his answer:
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“Well, for starters, Ted Kennedy was Catholic, and a big part of Catholicism is forgiveness. It’s the confession. He’s asked to be forgiven by people. He did a kind of a redemptive work throughout his whole career. He would fall off the wagon. He had a bit of a drinking problem. There was a carousing issue that came up. But he constantly said, I can do better. He asked the public directly, a number of times, that these are my own personal shortcomings, and I’m working on it.”
Just over an hour later, during the first minutes of the 2 pm Eastern hour of Newsroom, Brinkley went into an extended monologue about how the deceased Senator was apparently a practicing Catholic and the positive impact his family had on the acceptance of the Catholic faith in the U.S. Anchor Kyra Phillips did not question the historian on any of the controversial issues where the senator was at odds with Church teaching, such as abortion, and his divorce and remarriage. The historian also hinted that he is not exactly a faithful Catholic himself, given his church attendance.
BRINKLEY: Remember, that the Kennedys are- well, they’re kind of both outsiders and insiders. They had to fight as Irish Catholics to be part of a Protestant New England, and- you know, when you’re there at Hyannis Port, you can feel the tug of Ireland, particularly when you go sailing. It’s just across the pond, as they like to say, and- you know, this Irishness is there, and it again connects to the Roman Catholicism I mentioned earlier. I didn’t know this until I read it in The New York Times, but Senator Kennedy- Ted Kennedy, after Rose died in 1995- for one year, went to Mass every day for an entire year. I’m Catholic- if I go to Mass- you know, once- once a month, I’m feeling spiritual. But to go every day- you know, so-
PHILLIPS: (Laughs) You’ve got to rid all the guilt- you’ve got have confession, and it’s the good, Irish Catholic thing to do, Doug. You know that (laughs).JFK won in 1970? It looks like the presidential historian was a bit off in that statement.
BRINKLEY: Well, and it’s- and it’s- you know, and I think that Ted Kennedy’s sense of faith and the family’s belief- when you have this kind of- the amount of tragedies that they’ve had- and I think they have turned- turned to priests- have turned constantly to Catholicism as a- a source of refuge. You know, one out of every four Americans is Catholic, and yet, up until John Kennedy’s election in 1970 [sic], there had been a- anti-Catholic bigotry. There was a Know-Nothing Party against Catholics, and when Al Smith ran for president in the 1920s, they- people thought the Vatican was going to run America. And the Kennedys broke the stigma against Catholicism, and they did it in Protestant New England. And they did it by keeping the family unit together, and at all costs- as David Gergen said- of putting family first.
Earlier, Phillips asked Brinkley if there were any worthy successors to the Ted Kennedy, and the historian sounded like a sycophant for the political clan:
PHILLIPS: We were talking with David Gergen about the lion of the Senate there, and how this is a very emotional time for the family, but also- the perfect place for the senator to die. It was where he found peace, it was where he was the most happy, and, of course, it’s where all members of the family were. And now, as he moves from his home to his final resting place, a lot of people asking- okay, who’s going to fill his shoes, and is it possible?
BRINKLEY: Well, there is nobody that’s ever going to fill Ted Kennedy’s shoes, and that’s a tall order for somebody in the family to try to live up to. It’s a new generation, right now, of Kennedys that are doing very active public service things. Robert Kennedy, Jr., for example, has become our top environmentalist. He is constantly fighting polluters. He’s trying to save mountains right now in West Virginia, and he’s fighting for parks in Alaska.
You have people like Rory Kennedy, who is becoming a cutting-edge filmmaker for HBO- currently doing a documentary about the border fence going up between the United States and Mexico, and has been involved with issues of AIDS- on [the] global AIDS epidemic. You have people like- you know, Kerry Kennedy, who just wrote a book on being Catholic ,which has- became a bestseller for her, and she organizes Speak Truth to Power- these human rights conferences all over the world, and getting a- a great membership to all of her speeches and everything that she does. So, I could go on and on. There are so many of them.
—Matthew Balan is a news analyst at the Media Research Center.
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Ted Kennedy
August 27, 2009 - 16:45 ET by NorthCoasterI'm sorry for the family and his constituents. That said, he's just another politician telling us what to do, when he couldn't even govern himself in a reasonable manner.
This was his life
August 27, 2009 - 16:53 ET by ArchConservativeThis was his life: http://www.dailymail...
He was a shameful, unapologetic taker of an innocent life.
You support the troops by supporting the mission! If you don't support the mission, have the guts to say you don't support the troops.
Obama: Not my President. Ever.
ted a catholic
August 27, 2009 - 17:42 ET by countryfirstI am a catholic and am so angry that the church would even let him inside a church, when a catholic commits suicide they cannot have a catholic burial this excuse for a human not only was pro abortion he left mary jo to ie in the lake, to give him a catholic burial mkaes a mockey of the catholic church. I blame the catholic heirachy in boston for allowing this to take place, they ought to be ashamed of themselves.
Douglas Brinkley has said
August 27, 2009 - 16:56 ET by nolotrippenDouglas Brinkley has said the same thing of every Republican president, nay, every conservative, so at least he's consistent.
No, wait. I must have dozed off and was dreaming of a balanced media. Sorry.
ROTFLMAO
August 27, 2009 - 18:30 ET by mjfitchROTFLMAO!!!!
"Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery." -Winston Churchill
I’m Catholic- if I go to
August 27, 2009 - 17:07 ET by motherbeltI’m Catholic- if I go to Mass- you know, once- once a month, I’m feeling spiritual. But to go every day- you know, so-
Wow. How impressive! You're obliged to go every Sunday, and the few extra Holy Days. But you keep patting yourself on the back for going once a month!
And regarding Brinkley's previous use of the word "martyr" for Kennedy...
I do not think it means what you think it means! -Inigo Montoya
I grew up a catholic. I had
August 27, 2009 - 17:26 ET by danboI grew up a catholic. I had ta ask if they/when changed that.
So I guess Ted was saying he wasn't a very good catholic.
Limited Disclosure: I used to belong to the Sierra Club untill they went crazier. Worse of all, I was bribed by Exxon with free New Orleans Saints glasses with fill ups in the 70's.
I believe the Know Nothings
August 27, 2009 - 17:29 ET by danboI believe the Know Nothings are still alive and well. (Especially in academia and the media.) They just embrace pseudo catholics to pretend they're accepting.
But that evil, nazi, out of touch pope?
Limited Disclosure: I used to belong to the Sierra Club untill they went crazier. Worse of all, I was bribed by Exxon with free New Orleans Saints glasses with fill ups in the 70's.
I guess to them the only
August 28, 2009 - 10:08 ET by mattmI guess to them the only good Catholic is a pro-abortion, pro-gay, high-tax, big government, elitist, above the law Catholic.
I've had enough
August 27, 2009 - 17:36 ET by wotsiznamewotsizname The Kennedys live above the law applicable to us. Old Joe, who was made ambassador to England by Franklin Roosevelt to get him out of the country and keep him from running for president, got, so I've read long ago, the English to use an old law to make an American sailor serve seven years in an English prison because he somehow displeased old Joe. The source is lost to me, but I believe that is true. John and Robert were said to be, in the family male tradition, enthusiastic screwers of anything that looked good to them; married or not. Another story, which I cannot confirm, was that Robert and a CIA agent gave Marilyn Monroe a lethal injection and/or moved her dead body. Ted left Mary Jo to drown. Nephew allegedly raped and beat a girl. Ted's bodyguards were arrested for bringing sub machine guns into the Capitol Building. (He was not against the possession of arms for protection, but like his ilk they just don't want riff raff like citizens to protect themselves or families.) Can our country survive without his kind? You betcha.
ted going to mass
August 27, 2009 - 17:47 ET by countryfirstI agree with you , what made me so made today was to see our brave men carrying his casket can someone please tell me if this is legal , he was not president did not serve in the military, does this mean that senators and congress have the same honor as the military, this is disgusting,
As incredible as it seems
August 27, 2009 - 18:06 ET by celatorAs incredible as it seems now, Ted Kennedy served two years in the US Army (51-53, I believe), and so he is eligible for a military funeral or military pallbearers. I know, I was surprised, also.
No citizen's right to life, liberty, pursuit of happiness, or property is safe as long as Obama is President of the United States.
Re US Army
August 27, 2009 - 21:15 ET by slickwillie2001After one of the two times Teddie was expelled from Harvard for cheating on exams, he signed up for the US Army. He mistakenly signed up for a four-year term when he really had intended two, so his father pulled strings to reduce it to two. His father also pulled strings to keep Teddie assigned to the US Army in Europe, while the Korean War raged. Teddie spent most of the two years in Paris, France. He did not advance beyond the rank of Private.
Ted's "redemptive life" did
August 27, 2009 - 18:31 ET by celatorTed's "redemptive life" did not include a simple apology to Mary Jo's family. Not once. They have stated so publicly.
No citizen's right to life, liberty, pursuit of happiness, or property is safe as long as Obama is President of the United States.
Ted never said he was sorry
August 27, 2009 - 20:18 ET by motherbeltTed never said he was sorry for the same reason one is told not to apologize after a car accident on the road. It can be taken as an admission of guilt.
As a fellow Irish Catholic
August 28, 2009 - 00:38 ET by KC MulvilleAssuming the stories about him were correct, combined with his policies, I'd be ashamed of the man as a fellow Irish Catholic. But Brinkley's right, in my opinion: Catholics should be noted for their forgiveness. As we all know, it's not our place to judge him.
I'd also prefer to wait to have any discussion about Irishness or Catholicism. When the rest of the country thinks about Irish Catholics, their perspective is distorted by the media's love affair with the Kennedys. Me, when I think about Irish Catholicism, I think of my own family and my own experience. I'm Irish Catholic, and if you want to know a different perspective that the Kennedys, trust me -- there are millions of other Irish Catholic families who have different experiences. I'd rather listen to all of them than listen to the oddball experiences of one rich and privileged political clan. Yes, they were as Irish Catholic as I am, but there are millions of other stories than theirs or mine ... and they deserve to be heard, not drowned out by the media's fawning worship of the Kennedys.
Let me say something about Douglas Brinkley. I read The Boys of Point du Hoc, and I thought it was wonderful. He's usually a good liberal, and he plays it fair. He's very good, and he's an entertaining writer. I like the guy. Sometimes his liberalism gets the better of him, but who among us is perfect? (It's my Catholicism forgiving him, I guess.)
Do these dumba$$es realize
August 28, 2009 - 01:21 ET by RR GOPDo these dumba$$es realize that there are millions of us who are in no way traumatized nor upset?
"He had a bit of a drinking problem."
But Beck's drinking problem and Rush's narcotics problem are different. Hmmm.
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.
A bit of a drinking
August 28, 2009 - 08:14 ET by BDA bit of a drinking problem? Boy, that is an understatement.
STEPHEN AMBROSE MUST BE FLIPPING IN HIS GRAVE
August 28, 2009 - 03:51 ET by SgthulkaEvery time this hagiogrpaher speaks.
What Ambrose saw in this twit is beyond me.
August 28, 2009 - 07:37 ET by jessieHHeadline: Murderer goes to church