Vincent Bzdek

"Each Kennedy contributes 'a ripple of hope' to the legacy... some large, some small, many skirting troubled waters, but all contributing to a current that tries to beat endlessly at oppression and prejudice."

The prose of a Washington Post feature writer or a Kennedy hagiographer? Yes.

With Sen. Ted Kennedy's ongoing struggle with brain cancer sidelining him from the Senate and Eunice Kennedy Shriver's recent death, "The Faces of a 'Royal' Generation Fade Into History," the Washington Post announced in a front page headline for the August 12 edition. What followed was a 42-paragraph front-pager that amounts to gushy Kennedy hagiography, in part because it was penned by a Kennedy hagiographer.

While the Kennedy family had successfully "market[ed] themselves as a middle-class fantasy of American royalty" in order to rise to political prominence, it was ultimately for the greater common good, as Vince Bzdek explained towards the close of his story:

While appearing on Tuesday's edition of "MSNBC News Live" to comment on Caroline Kennedy's bid to be appointed the United States Senate, Washington Post news editor Vincent Bzdek hyperbolically lauded Caroline's uncle, Senator Ted Kennedy, as "one of the greatest legislators in the history of the country."

Anchor Norah O'Donnell also read from a New York Daily News column harshly attacking Caroline Kennedy as unqualified. She then defended, "Is that really fair? Is that a little bit tough?" In a follow-up question to Bzdek, O'Donnell gushed at the legacy of the Kennedy family: "The Kennedys have long been known for their eloquence. Of course, Ted Kennedy, the lion of the U.S. Senate, a great speechmaker, in terms of delivering on policy." Wondering if Caroline could live up to such standards, she queried the Washington Post editor, "Is she being compared unfairly to her uncle?"