Ms. Harrop,

Shame on you! Ted Kennedy's funeral is tomorrow, and you chose to write a column not on his life of helping the 'powerless' but to join the likes of Malkin in portraying Kennedy as a man of many flaws. Why would you not wait until after his funeral to jump on the bandwagon of sensational journalism?

If Kennedy's death inspires others to rise above partisan politics and pass good health care legislation, that will reflect admiration for his work as an individual, not dynasty-worship. The emotional pull of "winning one for the Gipper" might do some real good in this case.

Ms Harrop,
Shame on you!
Miss Mary Jo Kopechne dead all these years and you still can't personalize her by using her name.
Just some staffer(whatever). His brothers's former staffer( whatever).
And as he CHEATED-paid someone wasn't it?
on a Spanish
exam at univerity of virginia.
I'll bet he still wasn't BI-LINGUAL.
Except maybe russian.

Brilliant column - one of your best (published in the Spokane Spokesman-Review - 9/29). With all due respect, however, may I take issue with two of your statements.
#1 - "We hope that his four-decade crusade to extended health coverage to all Americans will end this year". Who is "WE"? "We" is clearly not the millions of Americans who have taken the time to read and understand the truth about the nationalized health care legislation currently being proposed and are vigorously opposed to it. I suggest you read the Charles Krauthammer column (A back door to health reform) published the same day.
#2 - "Congress should pass it because the legislation would be good for the country". By who's assessment? Certainly not the CBO's and, based on extensive polling, most of the the US population.
That, and the way Senator Kennedy publically trashed anyone who dared to hold positions different from his aside (ex. Robert Bork), your column put him and his contribution to our Country in proper prospective.
Keith LaMotte
Spokane, WA