Ted Kennedy’s Good Fortune
No, I have not lost my mind. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy’s inoperable brain cancer that will soon claim his life (physicians give him at most 15 months to live) is seen in secular circles as a tragedy—but Catholics learn early that since death is inevitable, the chance for what theologians call the
”grace of a happy death” can come if…as all of us devoutly wish…there is adequate time before the grim reaper comes that can be used by all of us…saints, sinners and those in between…for contemplation, contrition, penance, prayer and calm resignation.
Thus it can be said, in theological terms involving repentance and forgiveness for sin, that the 76-year-old lawmaker is incomparably better off than were his three brothers: Joe, 29, who went down in a B-24 Liberator on August 12, 1944 near the village of Blythburgh, Suffolk, England…John, 46, the 35th president who died immediately in assassination on November 22, 1963 in Dallas…and Robert, 45, the New York senator who met death instantly early on the morning of June 5, 1968 as he walked through the kitchen of the Ambassador hotel in Los Angeles having won the California presidential primary.
I had a most unusual and pleasant experience with the youngest Kennedy scion. In 1977 I was recommended for a fellowship at the John F. Kennedy Institute of Politics, Harvard, with the approval of Newton Minow, JFK’s former FCC chairman, Abner Mikva my congressman and Andrew Young, ambassador to the UN. For a conservative Republican I thought these supporters might get me in. But no. I was blocked and told that under no circumstances would I be able to get the Fellowship. Why not? Was the miniscule Harvard quota for Republicans already filled? No. But I was informed that, after all, the Kennedy Institute had its standards and by no means would a corporate lobbyist be admitted. Lobbyists were vermin. So-called “public interest” lobbyists would be admitted i.e. Ralph Nader. Labor union leaders were given a pass. Black civil rights activists were, as well. But corporate lobbyists were seen as so dishonorable that by no means were they allowed to pass through the portals.
The door was closed. However if I wanted to pursue the matter, Sen. Edward Kennedy had made a rule that he would interview all potential Kennedy Fellows and he would agree to see me…if I wanted to return to Cambridge the next week. I decided what the hell, why not? So I flew back. No sooner had I entered his spacious office at the Institute than I reminded him that in my past I had traveled across the state with the legendary Everett McKinley Dirksen who was a special friend and ally of John Kennedy. That was the smartest thing I ever did aside from marrying my wife. We swapped Dirksen stories for an hour and Kennedy laughed at the old man’s scatological tales until the water rolled out of his eyes. I told him that when I decided to try to get congressional approval for affirmative action as an assistant Commerce secretary working for Nixon, I asked Dirksen if this would be a popular idea in the Congress.
Dirksen said: “Yes, very popular. About as popular as a case of crabs in a bordello.”
At the end of the hour, Ted Kennedy stood up, extended his hand and said the stories I told reminded him of ones his brothers had chortled about over drinks with Dirksen. And he offered me a drink—which I took. Before I left, I asked if I had been accepted.
“Accepted?” he said. “For what?”
As a Kennedy Fellow.
“You go out there and tell the dean that you are head of the class,” he said. That was just about the last time I talked with him.
I certainly don’t want to imply that because he gave me a pass to become a Kennedy Fellow I am indebted to Ted. But I know this. He has many things to mull over during this interregnum and the time he now has can be put to good use. I particularly would advise him to review the meeting he and Bobby called for the family estate at Hyannisport in 1964 before abortion had become a federal issue. But the issue was moving front and center in state legislatures and the meeting was called to provide advice for Bobby who was running for the New York senate seat—but also for future Kennedys like Ted who wanted to follow Bobby in the presidency.
Attending that huddle in Hyannisport were Fr. Robert Drinan SJ (later to become a pro-abortion congressman from Massachusetts); Fr. Charles Curran, a non-Jesuit whose writings against Humanae Vitae were condemned later by the Vatican; Fr. Joseph Fuchs, SJ, a professor at Gregorian University, Rome; Fr. Richard McCormick, SJ, later to become the Rose Kennedy professor of the Kennedy Institute for Bioethics at Georgetown and after that a theology professor at Notre Dame; Fr. Giles Milhaven, SJ who later figured in the early operation of “Catholics for Free Choice” and Fr. Albert Jonsen, SJ.
According to Philip Lawler in his brilliant new book about how Catholicism receded in Boston, The Faithful Departed: The Collapse of Boston’s Catholic Culture [Encounter: 2008, the hireling theologians worked for two days to develop a rationale for the Kennedys to handle the issue. “Eventually they reached a consensus, which they passed along to their political patrons. Abortion, they agreed, could sometimes be morally acceptable as the lesser of two evils. Lawmakers should certainly not encourage abortion but a blanket prohibition might be more harmful to the common good than a law allowing abortion in some cases…President Kennedy hads already laid the foundation for the argument that a Catholic politician must not attempt to enact his private religious views; now his brothers were prepared to take the next step forward. They were ready to explain that they were personally opposed to the abortion ban, but…”
From that time on, a smattering of Jesuit theologians provided a cover for that effort, writes Lawler including after “Roe” Ted Kennedy’s front-and-center support for abortion rights and his vote even for partial birth abortion—though stopping short at supporting the “Born Alive” ban (which Barack Obama personally endorsed while a member of the Illinois legislature, differing from such worthies as Kennedy, Barbara Boxer and Diane Feinstein).
At the Democratic national convention in Chicago in 1968 with his brother Robert dead, Eugene McCarthy failing to pick up the liberal slack and Hubert Humphrey unattractive to the peace delegates, Mayor Richard J. Daley privately joined with powerful California state house speaker Jesse (Big Daddy) Unruh to try to draft Ted Kennedy at the last minute for the nomination. Ted could have gotten the nomination without a struggle since McCarthy had expressed to this writer and others that he would withdraw in Ted’s favor (“which is what I wouldn’t have done for Bobby”)—but Ted turned it down. His tender age, 36, wasn’t a problem, McCarthy told me later since most of the founders were young men when the Constitution was ratified—Jefferson, 43, Madison, 35, Hamilton, 36.
If Kennedy had said yes, the emotion of the country was such after the murders of two Kennedy brothers that he would assuredly have defeated Richard Nixon who had the dark visage of Richard III. Ted decided he could wait until the disruption engulfing the Democrats over Vietnam was settled. He would run in 1972. Wrong. By then he couldn’t.
Less than a year later, on July 18, 1969 came what has ever since been known as the Chappaquiddick Incident and the death of Mary Jo Kopechne, a former campaign worker for Robert Kennedy whose dead body was discovered inside an overturned car belonging to Ted Kennedy in a channel on a small island adjoining Martha’s Vineyard. No satisfactory answer has ever been supplied by Kennedy or his supporters for the tragedy. An unconscionable delay in reporting the accident caused Kopechne’s death. Kennedy passed four homes with telephones after the accident and didn’t call the police until the next morning, the 19th. In the meanwhile, the overturnbed car was found in the pond by two fishermen who called police.
A diver was sent down and discovered Kopechne’s body. At the inquest, the diver, John Farrar, testified that Kopechne’s body was pressed up in the car in the spot where an air bubble had been presumably formed. The inquest said the bubble could have allowed her to breathe for two hours afer the accident. Farrar testified: “Had I received a call within five to ten minutes of trhe accident…and was able as I was the following morning to be at the victim’s side within 25 minutes of receiving the call…there is a strong possibility that she would have been alive on removal from the submerged car.” Kennedy’s dithering, cowardice and emotional paralysis…fear of political retribution…led to the stall, most say.
Mary Jo had an estimated two hours, trapped in the upturned car, to contemplate: max.
And, while we are not given to judge, it is mark of singular good fortune to him that Ted Kennedy will probably have up to 15 months to ruminate about the things he did, both good and bad, in his political and private life.
…as well as contemplate the lesson his Church has always taught abou the purpose of life—specially the folly of elevating fame, riches and political power so as to disvalue the pursuit of holiness.
Hang in there, Ted. In theological rubric, you’re a lucky man.
____________________________________ ________
Thomas F. Roeser is chairman of the editorial board of The Chicago Daily Observer.
You’re right, it’s not given to us to judge–and yet you do anyway. I understand about the opportunity to contemplate death, but this little hit piece is less about that, and more about tarnishing the man’s image, and providing a tasteless chiding for someone with whom you hold disagreements. Perhaps when your time comes, you too will have an opportunity to reflect upon the folly of pursuing a cheap political attack upon someone who is likely dying. You, I hope, will be your own judge.
Whoa, hold up Mr. Quinn, the facts speak for themselves.
Ted Kennedy never answered for Mary Jo Kopechne’s death…for those who believe in divine retribution (ie, the guilty will eventually be punished), then I would say that Kennedy’s chicken has come home to roost. We pray for his soul, but he probably let that poor girl die. For that, Ted’s a liar, a coward, and less than a man.
Skin diver Farrar who opined under oath that Mary Jo could have lived
for perhaps 2 hours in an air bubble also testified under oath that the driver’s side window was partially rolled up thus Kennedy and his back brace couldn’t have escaped that way.
“- Inquest Exhibit #25 -
- Scuba diver John Farrar about to enter the partially removed car on a banking after having removed the body of Mary Jo Kopechne from the back seat.”
(From website Y-Ted-K with photo)
Look at the photo of the unopened door, folks, and tell Mr. Roesser how far the window is rolled up.
If Farrar didn’t tell the truth about
this what else did he make up and not tell the truth about? That is the question any journalist or lawyer would ask.
And there is so very much more.
Mr. Roesser, Journalism both missed the ball and dropped the ball on this case. I have been working on it for many years.
Jack
Perhaps some you out there believe that cancer is “divine retribution” for past mistakes. I think that it’s a disease that afflicts good people and bad without discrimination. Ted Kennedy has been a good man, by most indications, and done more for other people that 99% of readers of this column have ever performed. Truly, these negative comments are just scabby and despicable reminders of a man’s tragic mistake nearly forty years ago. Mr. Kennedy has had, I’m sure, and will continue to have, opportunities for reflection upon the fallibility of being a human. Perhaps the rest of could do also, with Christian values of humility and mercy.
Tim Quinn,
This site prides itself on being quantitative rather than emotional. Statements such as Ted Kennedy has “done more for other people than 99% of readers of this column” just dangle and do not add much to any discussion.
The column itself cites examples of Sen. Kennedy’s benevolence, yet you insist on broad insult rather than offering insight into your claims.
How about taking a shot at facts rather than how you feel about other people?
JBP
Radio, television and the print media( Chicago Daily Observer ) have done to our minds what industry has done to the land.
We now think like New York city looks.
The military Industrial Complex (read military, oil people, FBI, Secret Service, Lyndon Johnson)
wacked the President, then had to wack the brother Bobby because if he got into office he would of brought the predators to justice.
FBI agents then set Teddy up for a sting with Kopechene. They could not wack him, to many wack jobs in a row, just neutralize him so he can never be President.
When John Jr started showing political aspirations he was wacked with a convenient plane accident.
Read the book written by Michael Parenti PhD called Dirty Truths
and see what FBI agents did to labor leader Walter Reuther’s plane
to assassinate him.
google these words together and watch the video called THE GUILTY MEN
barr mcclellan guilty men you tube
Fortunately we now have the science in place for re-incarnation.
I suspect the Kennedy clan who were
wacked will be coming back and have
given some thought on how they will do the people who killed them.
see the work of Ian Stevenson MD , especially his work with birthmarks.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/02/12/db1201.xml
Mr. Powers,
It’s interesting, and instructive, that your comments addressed my “emotional” statements, and not the fellow who said Mr. Kennedy is “a liar, a coward, and less than a man.” Perhaps your perceptions have something to do with your own ideology and biases?
Given the recent publicity about Mr. Kennedy, I had thought that the “facts” about so illustrious a career might be too lengthy and tedious to repeat in this forum, and so I alluded broadly to them. Here is a short and incomplete list of his accomplishments:
Cancer (1971) After rising to the position of majority whip in 1969, Kennedy and Rep. Paul Rogers, D-Fla., passed legislation establishing a federal cancer research program that quadrupled the amount spent fighting cancer.
Anti-Apartheid (1986) After President Ronald Reagan vetoed economic sanctions banning the purchase of gold, coal, iron and other goods from the apartheid government of South Africa in 1986, Kennedy spearheaded the bipartisan effort in both houses to override the veto.
Family Leave (1990) Kennedy and Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., authored the Family and Medical Leave Act requiring businesses to provide unpaid leave for family emergencies or after the birth of infants. It was signed by President Clinton in 1993.
Health care (1996) Kennedy joined with Sen. Nancy Kassebaum, R-Kansas, in 1996 to pass the Kennedy-Kassebaum Act, which allowed employees to keep health insurance after leaving their job and prohibited health insurance companies from refusing to renew coverage on the basis of pre-existing medical conditions.
Minimum Wage (1996) Kennedy was the lead Senate sponsor of legislation increasing the minimum wage from $4.25 to $5.15. He reprised this role in 2007, after Democrats retook Congress, quarterbacking the effort to raise the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 by 2009.
Education (2001) Over the objections of some fellow Democrats, Kennedy helped pass President Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act in 2001.
Mr. Kennedy is cited often (e.g. http://boards.hbo.com/topic/Maher-Member-Created/Ted-Kennedy-Greatest/1900006335) as being able to work with his conservative colleagues with skill and grace. I find it illuminating that many of the early positive comments about him following the announcement of his illness came from his Republican opponents in the Senate.
So I think that the facts support the notion that Mr. Kennedy has done an awful lot for a lot of people.
The larger point here is that Mr. Roeser’s column was a personal attack upon Mr. Kennedy, disguised as spiritual commentary, and I found it to be full of judgment (in spite of his statement about how we are “not to judge”), and snideness that was in ill-taste, in this site which “prides itself on being quantitative rather than emotional”.
Senator Kennedy is all of the above-good and evil, I certainly don’t think he was the best of the Kennedy men and they all had their flaws-they had greatness and weakness. Lets just remember them in all their parts, good and bad-because if they have failings and are human so are we-However-I wouldn’t ride in a car with some of you…..
“The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones.” – Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, III, ii.
My father died of a glioblastoma, just three months after his first major seizure. Essentially, it is a spiderlike cancer that invades more and more of your brain until function ceases.
Ted Kennedy’s surgery may prolong that somewhat, and in some ways it is a merciful way to go because it still allows many lucid, happy moments among the inevitable setbacks — and time and reason enough to make peace with friends and enemies, and yes, of course, with God.
I certainly pray that Kennedy avails himself of those moments as the sands of time run out slowly and inexorably for him. We need to remember, however. that they are running down for all of us.
They are running down, too, for our country as the cancer of abortion continues to invade the soul of America while Christian leaders like Cardinal Goegre hand out a few lashes of a wet noodle to lost souls like Father Pleger. If you understand Christ’s priorities on the scale of evil, they have more to worry about than flagrant sinners like Ted Kennedy, who for all his failings, did some good along the way.
Kennedy’s tragedy was arriving at the crest of fame coincident with the changing spirit of the times in the 1960′s that swept away thousands of priests and nuns as part of the new liberation, while Cardinals learned to sweep their failings under the ecclesiastical rug.
That did not make his failure any less real or tragic. Rose Kennedy, gave us the Kennedy dynasty because she believed in life more than anything else. Yet despite her endless Rosaries, she couldn’t stop her roguish husband’s relentless addiction to greed, ambition, and will to power — or temper the price their children had to for it.
Hopefully, she is still praying for God’s mercy for her surviving son, and for the conversion of those who have survived a spiritually tragic era. A few of her Hail Mary’s might help us all . . . “pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen”
While you’re at it, include the Cardinal.
Meanwhile, click
HERE to visit
Movement for a Better America
[...] Ted Kennedy’s Good Fortune by Thomas F. Roeser, Chicago Daily Observer, May 27, 2008 [...]
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