Oct. 29 - This week's assignment in Precision Guided Humor is "What lessons can we learn from the life of Ted Kennedy?"

Being in a somewhat philosophical state of mind today, I find myself reflecting on the influence of the Kennedys during my own lifetime: the invigorating personae of both John F. and Robert F. Kennedy, the shocks my generation experienced upon their untimly deaths, and how deeply the death of John Jr. a few years ago reopened those old pains.

I remember the Inaugural Speech of John F. Kennedy in 1961 only barely (althought it was been replayed many times) but do remember how a certain word gained a new pronounciation: vigor. There is also Ask not what your country can do for you, but rather what you can do for your country. The Peace Corp. Drawing the line against communism. Sending in National Guard troops to Little Rock. Profiles in Courage.

I saw John F. in person when he was awarded a doctorate degree from UC Berkeley. My grade school attended the ceremonies along with everyone else in and near Berkeley. I don't remember what he said, but I do remember that he was vibrant and infused with an energy and confidence in the people of America.

I only saw Robert F. while he was waving from a motorcade during the 1968 Dem primary campaign in California, and he too had this magical electricity and confidence in our abilities to take up challenges and succeed. I've never been to the Ambassador Hotel, and never will.

We learned a new word during the Kennedy years: charisma. Jack and Bobby had it, John Jr. had it, Ted, alas, doesn't. But neither did/do Johnson, Jimmy Carter, George McGovern, Richard Nixon and Hubert Humphrey, although Ronald Reagan had it (which was a really awkward discovery given that I was a lefty back when Reagan was governor of California.) (I've never seen either Bush, Clinton or Bush live before, so don't know about them.)

But that's not a lesson we can learn from Ted Kennedy because it's not his fault that he doesn't have charisma.

The Pope visited Toronto a few years ago, and in one of the most powerful statements I think I've ever heard, he looked gently at the many young people assembled and told them that they didn't know how good they were.

President Bush has reminded the American people that we are a good, generous people who have always treated our friends and enemies with kindness and forgiveness.

President Kennedy had full confidence when he proposed going to the moon that we would succeed precisely because the challenge was so hard. Despite the many conspiracy theories that surround the president's assassination, the evidence remains that a Communist who had lived in the Soviet Union killed Kennedy, probably in retaliation for the events of the Cuba Missile Crisis.

Sen. Kennedy once said that some people look at those things that are and ask why, and he looks at what could be and ask why not. Sen. Kennedy was killed by a Jordanian, Sirhan Sirhan, who claimed he was disappointed because the Senator was a strong supporter of Israel.

I tend to date the beginning of American self-loathing in 1968 when both Dr. King and Sen. Kennedy were killed. Those events marked a downward spiral in our belief in ourselves as a people and a country. It took until Sept. 11 to shake off that malaise of self-destructiveness and reaffirm that there are many, many good things about the USA and Americans.

Sen. Ted Kennedy should have played a vital and positive role in this rebirth of the American spirit and would, after all, have been continuing the family tradition in exhibiting confidence and faith in the American people. But he didn't.

The lesson? Ted Kennedy could have been a contender. That his presidential ambitions may have been dashed when he drove off a bridge so many years ago doesn't change the fact that he still could have contributed to the future of his country today by invoking and giving that which the Kennedys have always given aplenty: complete and total confidence in the American people.

Posted by: Debbye at 02:26 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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