August 10, 2005

President Bush is "in the clutches of the most reckless parts of the extreme right wing."

Senator Edward M. Kennedy has written me a letter, raising the alarm about a number of grave dangers. Did you know that President Bush has a "wish list" with this at the top:
Turn the Supreme Court into the Enforcement Arm of the Ultra-Right – Pack the court with far-right ideologues who will turn back the clock on half a century of progress on civil rights, economic progress, and the environment.

Well, I guess they drafted the letter before Bush actually picked someone for the Supreme Court, so we mustn't be too hard on poor Mr. Kennedy. He worries a lot, you know. And the letter was kind of dashed off without proofreading. I mean, "progress on ... progress"?

12 comments:

vbspurs said...

Remember when the Kennedys were inspirational, vibrant, and leadership-material?

Yeah. Me neither.

Cheers,
Victoria

goesh said...

I could live with that, Ted, but we all know it ain't gonna' happen, despite George being an agent of God - there's just too many intelligeint, hard working, reasonable folks who won't be bullied or swayed to either extreme of the political spectrum for that to happen. Where is Brother John Birch when 'ya need him most!?

Meade said...

Victoria: It was 1968.

I'm Full of Soup said...

I actually do remember when the Kennedys had the best qualities. I vividly recall getting ready for school in 1968 when my mother screamed "they killed another one" after she heard the radio news of RFK's assasination on the West Coast. So I am from a family that supported them at one time.

But I feel it's disgusting what Ted Kennedy has become. And it also makes me wonder how Americans determine which public figures deserve and which don't deserve a second chance.

vbspurs said...

Victoria: It was 1968.

lmeade, thanks but if it's all the same, I prefer RFK in 1962.

Cheers,
Victoria

goesh said...

JFK is still a hero of mine

vbspurs said...

But I feel it's disgusting what Ted Kennedy has become.

Something which JFK would not have liked IMO, since it's the polar opposite of their anti-Semitic, Paleo-conservative father.

He wouldn't have liked it, because he's gone from effective legislator with whom you can strike a "bahgain" to an ideologue of the shrillest variety, but one who furthermore carries weight (unlike Dennis Kucinich, e.g.), precisely because of his family name.

And it also makes me wonder how Americans determine which public figures deserve and which don't deserve a second chance.

I once read a poll years ago which Americans responded overwhelmingly that they thought politicians should have term-limits, to root out the bad politicos.

Trouble is, when asked if their home-state politicos were the problem, they equally overwhelmingly said, "not my Senator!".

And back when Bob Graham (D-Fla) was our Senator, despite not sharing my political bent, I would have had to agree.

See, it's hard.

Cheers,
Victoria

Unknown said...

Weren't Arthur Schlesinger's comments re: federalism in the week enough Kennedy-related idiocy for August?

Contributors said...

"Turn the Supreme Court into the Enforcement Arm of the Ultra-Right – Pack the court with far-right ideologues who will turn back the clock on half a century of progress on civil rights, economic progress, and the environment."

We can only hope.

Bruce Hayden said...

Teddy Kennedy's time is long past. It is not that he isn't being given a second chance, but rather, by the time that that was possible, he had passed into a shrill Democratic partisan.

The problem, as I see it, is that he never really atoned for the death he caused. Rather, he ran from it at the time, and used his family connections to avoid the jail time that the rest of us would have faced in similar circumstances.

So, for a period of time, this prevented him from being elected president. But, ultimately, memories fade, and most forgive. Unfortunately for him, by that time, he had made a reputation as one of the most liberal partisan members of the Senate. And just imagine how well another Mass. liberal would do running today, esp. if he had the liberal voting record that Kennedy has, and that Kerry tried to hide.

Sloanasaurus said...

You have to give Ted credit for bring home the cash for the big dig.

What a waste. If Minneapolis got $10+ billion in federal money we could tear down every building in downtown Minneapolis, build them again, tear them down, and then build them again and have some cash left over.

ploopusgirl said...

Well why don't you just blow the state of Massachusetts up already. It's full of goddamn leftists anyway, right Sloan? Victoria?

Cheeyuhs!