My regular readers will find it no surprise that I had little in common politically with the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy. However, as I have said before on this blog, just because a person is a democrat doesn’t make them a rotten human being or a person that I hate. Some of the best people I have known in my life are democrats and independents.
As I did a very brief scan of comments about Senator Kennedy being buried at Arlington National Cemetery with his brothers, I was saddened by the hate being expressed and the ignorance from those saying he doesn’t qualify to be buried there. Actually, he does meet the criteria as stated by Arlington National Cemetery internment guidelines:
Any former member of the Armed Forces who served on active duty (other than for training) and who held any of the following positions:
- An elective office of the U.S. Government
Senator Kennedy not only serve in elected office (nearly 47 years in the U.S. Senate), he also served in the U.S. Army in the 1950′s. I am quite certain there are many people buried in Arlington National Cemetery with whom I did not agree politically, but that does not mean they loved this country less or that they did not serve with honor.
One thing to remember today is that Senator Kennedy was also a husband, a father, a grandfather, who was loved and will be greatly missed by those who loved him. I was deeply reminded of this as I listened to Teddy Jr. at the funeral today talk about a time when he was about 12 years old and had just received a new prosthetic leg after suffering from bone cancer. His father (Sen. Kennedy) was going to take him sledding but he fell down while trying to climb the snowy slope. As the younger Kennedy started crying, his father told him “you can do this, and we will climb this hill together even if it takes us all day”. Regardless of his politics or falters throughout his life, Ted Kennedy was deeply loved by his family, and I am sorry for this terrible sadness and loss that they now experience.
OneMom
So very true, Kerry. It is amazing that someone such as Senator Kennedy can die and some can not let him die in peace and his family and friends mourn in peace without trying to dredge up all kinds of dirt and dirty politics. As you said, there was much to differ with Kennedy, but none of that matters now, as he has left this world. The least we should be able to do is let his family remember him well without bringing up the past.