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Susan, You amaze me. Ted Kennedy lived just the way he wanted without regard for others, he did not live by the often stated rule, by Ted, and family, to much is given, much is expected. he did what he wanted regardless of who he may have hurt or even killed; he had the money, and power to do so, thanks to his father who got his money in ways that our Teddy would not approve publicly of others doing. He was a Kennedy and above the law. Moreover; about Teddy's father,when FDR was asked once why he selected Joe Kennedy, Ted's father, to be head of the SEC or whatever it was that had to do with regulating the stock market after the crash of 29; FDR replied that it takes a crook to catch a crook. I noticed that Ted never gave his nasty begotten fortune back, while at the same time squeezing people who work hard and are trying to get a head. No he lived the great life of privilege, power, and called it public service, and tried hard to promote the rest of his family, the next generation. This self inposed torch, or royality, that none of us asked him or any of the other Kennedys to carry for us, I personally I hope this burden has finally been lifted from us the American people. Moreover; the health plan that he had in mind for me and my family never applied to him. He had it all and regardless of his age, he fought like hell to stay alive. I think that if I had his medical condition, and if I were his age, and if Mr. Kennedy had his way, under his health plan, my government would not waste the money on me or any member of my family. BTW,there are some other old senators that are spending a lot of health care money as well, and we know that this is not in their plan for us. Small side line here, I noticed that our new president nominated people, (and some were confirmed) individuals who publicly support higher taxes on us the masses, were liberals who failed to pay their fair share of taxes. Moreover; had they been Republicans who had not paid their taxes, none of them would have past through the senate,and you know it. However, Teddy approved and voted for the tax cheats that did pass through. I think that our wonderful Mr Ted thought that if he taxed all of us, not himself of course,but all of us, that if we paid for the injustice that he saw in this world that somehow this would square or take care of his personal failings as a humanbeing. Interesting. Also, I would bet, that had it been your daughter that Ted drove off a cliff and left for 10 or 12 hours in that car, you would not have said what you just said. As to his charm, OJ also had a winning way about him as well. So funny and charming, or so we have been told....OK? Back to your comment, you said, " the haters are still out there. Every time I said a nice word, my Blackberry would start vibrating". Susan, I don't hate Mr Kennedy, and while it is not right to speak ill of the dead, it is not right to lie about them either. People disagree with Mr. Kennedy's politics this does not make them haters, and it does not make them bad people to remember who he was. Infact, in the real world many of us may have friends or family members that we love and also find quite distasteful for some of the same reasons. Its not hate. Ted Kenndy is about public policy, our lives. In closing, I have always been puzzled as to why it is that we take as philosophy or the right thing to do for the poor and down and out or whatever, from people with such moral weakness and than try to saddle it onto the backs of the masses from people who personally lived disgusting lives. Marx comes to mind here. He mistreated his own family, an alcoholic, thought nothing of borrowing money and never paying it back, yet, his philosophy has been adopted for the way the world should live. Now I am not calling Teddy a Marx's, however, he too lived a disgusting life and once again we are being told that his politics is the ideal' I am so tired of the white wash.

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Susan says we "hate" (there's that liberal word of hate) Ted Kennedy. On the contrary, most of us Christians loved the lovable Ted Kennedy, but we hated his politics. He was respomnsible for many innocent deaths including Mary Jo.

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Susan, You are so right. The haters are so jealous of the Kennedy's popularity that they can't resist the chance to take cowardly cheap shots at all three of them. I personally met Robert and Teddy and had a nice friendship with Pierre Salinger and his take on the Kennedys was that they did have human flaws, but they remained true to their outwardly stated principles. I believe that to be so very true. He once told me that if the press did a little digging into Nixon's sexual history, they would be shocked. He mentioned a long-time association Nixon had with Gina Lolobrigida as a possible source of investigation. Note that I do not allege a sexual affair, but they were often together in a hotel in New York where Nixon and the Secret Service would take a whole floor but for a room for Gina. A little invsestigative reporting might scratch an itch. ?? But what would that do to change legislative history. Absolutely nothing. All that counted is what Nixon and Kennedy accomplished with legislation. And Nixon had a healthcare agenda not much different than what is being proposed today. I believe that national healthcare is a national security issue. Just think about the H1 N1 situation and how it could spiral out of control. These infections are most often spread through the poor first. Without healthcare, this epidemic could rapidly affect us all. A solid healthcare program is as important as our national defense. In fact, it could be like the 1918 flu outbreak that killed 500,000 in the United States. 911 would look like a pimple compared to this disaster. It is too bad that the shortsighted among our politicians and radio pundits cannot see this coming. It is too bad the public does not see healthcare as a public safety issue and a national security issue.

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I agree with everything Leona Hiley said above. None of us hated Ted Kennedy, but I for one saw the opportunist that he was. However, after watching his funeral I came away with much affection and respect for his son Ted. One could sense how sincere he was as he spoke of his dad. I think he should be a senator.

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With all due respect, you know NOTHING about Socialism or socialized medicine. I am a elder student of both history and the roots of socialism. Ted Kennedy AND the Democrats WANT to turn this country into the United Socialist Staes of America. When you GIVE to one group by taking away from another, that is called the "redistribution of income". If you do not realize that this is FACT, then you should just refrain from writing articles giving your meaningless and uneducated opinion.

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Ms. Estrich very persuasively describes the obsolete framework of American Politics. "Conservatives" hate Kennedy for his masterful, cynical manipulation of the "liberal" voter. Pretty much can be said of Bush. "Liberals" hate Bush for his masterful, cynical manipulation of the "conservative" voter. Bush did nothing to improve the USA. In fact Bush may possibly be remmembered as the worse president...ever. Bush's legacy will be one of short-sightedness and decay. Likewise, Kennedy did nothing to improve the USA, every piece of legislation Teddy put his name to can be regarded as one more crack in the foundation of everything Americans once held dear.(for example....The "No Child Left Behind Act" is classic Teddy Kennedy legislation.......if the Medicare Prescription Act had worked we wouldnt be fighting over "nationalized health care" right now.) Basically, Ms. Estrich, it's time to admit that "liberals" and "conservatives" are opposite cheeks on the same butt. The whole New Deal Era style of politics has gotten so ugly, we should work hard towards getting rid of ALL of them. The New Deal Era effectively died with Teddy Kennedy. It's time for a new era. Liberals and conservatives are the road blocks to progress at this point.

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Sorry Susan, I can feel no remorse about the death of Edward Moore Kennedy. After all if he had not been a Kennedy he would have gone to jail over Mary Jo. He used his Senate power to push only things that he believed in over the interest of the nation like most liberals. On the other hand I highly respect his brother JFK in that he stood his ground and he was for a progressive America where people put the aspect of the nation above personal enrichments. Since then it has been all down hill with the Democrats pushing entitlement and handouts. Then the dumbing down of all Americans with the social passing of students who could not learn or did not want to learn. Sooner of later this will be the complete downfall of America in the world and from looking at all the different standings we are rapidly headed toward the bottom. But, Edward Moore Kennedy was one who helped push America in this direction every way possible. I was once scolded for writing a speech not because it was not good, but, for the simple fact that my words would fly over the heads of the audience. I was told to do a rewrite and keep it simple enough for a 6th grader to understand as that was the current mental level of most Americans.

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Susan, I love you. Ted was not a good man. A good man admits responsibility for his actions and mistakes. He never admitted that what he did was wrong. He was fortunate to have been a Kennedy and from MA, otherwise he would have done hard time in prison.