The Eternal Flame
By Marie Cocco
Washington Post/Truthdig: Aug 26, 2009
Ten summers ago, for reasons I do not now recall, I asked Ted Kennedy's
office to provide an account of key legislation he had sponsored in what
already was a long and distinguished career.
The 32-page fax I received in response is as notable for what it lacks
as it is for the fullness of history it recounts.
There was no tone of pompous self-promotion that we are accustomed to
expect from politicians-from U.S. senators, in particular. Each of the
"highlights" was typed out, without graphic embellishment, in a single,
short phrase. They represented the best hopes America could offer in those
turbulent years that began in 1963, when Ted's brother Jack was assassinated
and hope seemed to die along with him.
Ted became the eternal flame.
In 1963, his first year in the Senate, one of the first bills he
sponsored was "Hospital Insurance Program Under Social Security for the
Aged"-that is, Medicare. There was legislation establishing college aid
programs and to fund metropolitan mass transit systems. Other bills would
provide vocational training for the unemployed, and establish the National
Arts Foundation.
That was just the first year.
In the decades that followed, Kennedy's passion for helping average
Americans-his liberal impulse guided by a deft, and often bipartisan,
legislative hand-would shape what this nation became.
If you have taken a community college course, or had a child get a chance
to attend college because these low-cost institutions have become a crucial
stepping stone for millions, you have Ted Kennedy to thank. So it is for
school lunches, child care for military families, civil rights and voting
rights for African-Americans and other minorities, and Head Start.
If you have a pension from a private employer, it is protected under
laws Kennedy wrote. If you have a physically or mentally disabled child, he
or she is entitled to a public education because of Kennedy's efforts. He
was tough on drugs, consistently promoting new law enforcement methods to
disrupt the narcotics trade while simultaneously pushing better treatment
for the addicted.
He was instrumental in writing the law barring age discrimination, and
he authored the Americans With Disabilities Act. The forerunner to the
landmark law prohibiting discrimination against the disabled was a measure
Kennedy promoted in 1972: "To prohibit discrimination against handicapped
persons in federal programs." The broader Americans With Disabilities Act
would take almost two decades to be enacted-in 1990.
This is a part of the Kennedy legacy that often escapes notice. He was,
in every respect, a man of his times. But he was very often ahead of his
times.
He was an environmentalist, protecting oceans and other waterways,
before the environmental movement emerged as a political force. He sought
legislation "to include expenses of prescription drugs in the Medicare
program" in 1965. The Medicare prescription drug benefit would not be
enacted until 2003.
When it finally took form under a Republican-controlled Congress that
larded the measure with extra payments for managed-care insurance companies
and with provisions protecting drug industry profits, Kennedy initially
voted in favor, saying the drug coverage was an overdue commitment to the
elderly. But he came to oppose the bill, which he said had been "hijacked"
by special interests. "We've seen giveaways, but few of them will compare
with the one we've passed," the senator said in an interview a few months
after its passage.
For decades-at least until the Clintons emerged-Kennedy was a singular
target of Republican ire. The GOP would drop his name in fundraising mailers
and feature his image in attack ads against what seemed like any and all
Democratic candidates. On the eve of the 2004 Democratic National
Convention, which Kennedy had maneuvered to hold in his beloved Boston and
considered a tribute to his career, the senator's close involvement again
provided an easy opening for Republicans trying to discredit nominee John
Kerry as too much the Eastern liberal.
"I welcome that badge and wear it with honor," Kennedy told a handful of
journalists assembled in his Senate office. "Because it means I've been on
the cutting edge of issues that make a difference to families."
To eulogize Kennedy as a "liberal lion" is only half a truth. He was a
fierce protector of any American who did not have the opportunities the
Kennedy family so notably enjoyed.
He is gone now, but his dream shall never die. It lives because
Kennedy's work brought it to life for millions of Americans, and for
millions still to come.
Marie Cocco's e-mail address is mariecocco@washpost.com.
© 2009, Washington Post Writers Group
***
(Concluding paragraphs of NY Times lead editorial, 8/29/09)
"There are more than 100,000 Western troops in Afghanistan. Two-thirds are
Americans, including 17,000 authorized by Mr. Obama in February, and even
more may be needed. But that decision must be carefully weighed by the White
House, Congress and the American people. In two weeks, Gen. Stanley A.
McChrystal, the top American commander, is to present his first war review.
If he seeks more forces, he must explain how a greater reliance on troops
would advance Mr. Obama's promise of a "stronger, smarter and comprehensive
strategy."
That strategy was sold not just as a means of dislodging Taliban guerrillas
from the strategic mountain passes and towns they have retaken in recent
years. Mr. Obama also promised he would insist on a more capable and
accountable government in Kabul, help farmers shift from poppy growing to
other crops and build up an effective army and police force. He also must
speed deployment of American civilians to help Afghan leaders carry out
development projects, strengthen local governance and establish justice
systems. Another critical task: reaching out to Taliban fighters willing to
lay down their arms.
Politics is intruding. Because of Taliban attacks and voter apathy, turnout
for the Aug. 20 election was disappointingly low and there were allegations
of widespread fraud. Even worse, neither of the two main contenders offers
serious solutions to the country's problems.
President Hamid Karzai seems to have a lead over the primary challenger,
Abdullah Abdullah, but the fraud charges are likely to unsettle the country
for some time. Mr. Karzai's cynical decision to ally himself with a former
defense minister allegedly involved in drug trafficking and a warlord
accused of war crimes is the wrong way to build the country's future.
Under pressure from Congress to show progress by next spring, Obama
administration officials had hoped that the election would show that
Afghanistan was moving forward enough to justify more money and troops. If
the election produces a government that even Afghanis do not consider
legitimate, that task could be impossible."
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