WaPo Reporter Remembers Teddy Tearing Into GOP: 'It Was Awesome, It Was Vintage'

Kevin Williamson of National Review’s Media Blog marveled at the audacity of Washington Post congressional reporter Paul Kane, who boasted of Ted Kennedy’s awesomeness in tearing into Republicans at the start of a washingtonpost.com chat Thursday at noon. He recalled being on an elevator with Teddy and noticing he needed help with the back flap of his jacket:

Am I allowed to touch a Kennedy? I grew up in a household with busts of both Jack and Bobby. I can't touch a Kennedy. They're royalty.

So I let Kennedy walk out of the elevator looking silly, too afraid to help him. By the time Kennedy walks into the hearing his jacket is set -- clearly an aide helped set the flap right -- and he immediately tears into Republicans for trying to destroy the student loan program.

It was awesome. It was vintage. It was my first moment ever with Ted Kennedy.

Questioners did urge Kane to explain his Kennedy-idolizing intro:

New Orleans: "Am I allowed to touch a Kennedy? I grew up in a household with busts of both Jack and Bobby. I can't touch a Kennedy. They're royalty." Does anyone wonder why so many Americans think the MSM is in the tank for liberal Democrats? How can anyone read your writing without remembering this obvious bias?

Paul Kane: My bias is toward the institution. I've always admitted that in these chats. (If you're new to this chat, more often than not the readers accuse me of being some sorta flack for conservatives.)

Kennedy was an institution. Plain and simple. He was larger than life. Regardless of the feelings toward him as an institution, it didn't impact my coverage of his legislative proposals.

Kane went on to evaluate which Democrats would replace Kennedy as a liberal warrior (he nominated Rep. Henry Waxman and Sen. Sherrod Brown for their "purity," but suggested Sen. Russ Feingold wasn't pure enough.)