Teddy RIP

Tonight, a very unusual thing happened: a teabagger campaigned and won Teddy Kennedy's seat in a special election in MA.

Unbelievable. I'm not going to point fingers, but I will point out complacency and entitlement of this campaign--indicative of what the voters probably feel about Congress. Kos at DK seems to have a similar thought of my quick take.

Peter Daou opines: Liberal Bloggers to Dems: We Told You So.

However, there seems to be some in-fighting w/in the MA Dem Party in some circles.

Update (h/t DK): this is not so cool by Obama to tell the world he called newly-elect Senator Brown in congratulating him. I know, Obama thinks he can charm him, but I suggest otherwise; Brown is owned by the teabaggers' message which is "We hate government and therefore anything you stand for, except for helping Wall Streeters."

And apparently, newly-elect Senator Brown doesn't mind using his new status as Senator-elect to solicit dates for his "available" daughters. Real classy.

Skunks Show up again at Fixed Noise

Jed L had a good video clip of the lying pack of skunks, saying that Teddy compromised with Bush on the bad prescription bill in 2003.

When Dubya did an about face on the bill, Teddy railed at the GOP.

This was one of finest hours and one of my fondest memories of Teddy.

http://www.dailykostv.com/w/002089/

JRE also railed at the lobbyists that same day. He was the sole candidate for President who didn't duck this vote and run off to New Hampshire or Iowa, such as the way Lieberman did.

Well, my apologies to skunks. They were born that way. Fox News commentators were not.

John and Elizabeth Edwards Reflections about Ted Kennedy

JRE and EE attended Teddy's service last evening. I didn't watch much of the service, but it looked nice. Reporters from the New England Cable Network spoke to JRE and EE before they went in.



If that doesn't work, go here.


It only seemed fitting that the two would be invited since Ted probably understood both of them with their separate issues.

(h/t to one carolina girl)

The Ted who Roared for Justice (open thread)

It's hard to believe that Ted Kennedy finally passed away last night. This was a senator that who for personal bad or for good, he did what he could for his state, and in many instances for all of us. Getting minimum wage raised, SCHIP, educational issues etc.

VOTUS Joe Biden, while attending a meeting at the Dept of Energy shared these reflections :

When Biden was a 29-year-old novice running for the Senate, Kennedy came to Delaware to campaign for him, corralling votes in Little Italy, where Biden said they rarely voted for a Democrat.

As a new senator, Biden lost his wife and daughter in a car accident that left his two sons clinging to life in a hospital. Biden said Kennedy called every day and often sent help. “I’d turn around and there’d be a specialist from Massachusetts, some doc I never even asked for,” the vice president recalled.

Mostly, Biden said, he “restored my sense of idealism and my faith in the possibilities of what this country could do.”

Wiping tears from his eyes, Biden said Kennedy’s love of country and public service was “infectious when you were with him … you could just see it in nature of the debate. … He was never defeatist, he was never petty, he was never small.” In the process, said the vice president, “he made everybody he worked with bigger, both his adversaries and his allies.”



Video courtesy of Politico.

Share your thoughts about Ted Kennedy in the comments. I have two memories I wish to share, but have to locate transcripts or videos or both first.

Note from Howard Dean: the Kennedy family has a condolences and memories online book set up.

Elizabeth Edwards and Lance Armstrong Back New Health Legislation

Senators Ted Kennedy and Kay Bailey Hutchinson introduced legislation today entitled, the the 21st Century Cancer Access to Life-Saving Early detection, Research and Treatment (ALERT) Act.

According to the News-Observer:

The Kennedy/Hutchison bill would try to foster better research by linking various organizations and national cancer registries and by boosting funding. It would increase the focus on rare cancers with low survival rates, and would establish a state grant program for colorectal cancers.

The bill also would provide expanded access to clinical trials and set up a new biomarker program for early detection.

Elizabeth said:

"We know how to lengthen and improve the lives of people with cancer, but we've chosen as a nation to turn our backs on some of us who have the disease,” said Elizabeth Edwards. “I urge the United States Senate to embrace the ALERT Act and get it to the President's desk as soon as possible."

Armstrong's comment:

“In 2010, cancer is expected to be the leading cause of death worldwide. Every American is touched by this disease,” said Lance Armstrong, chairman and founder of the Lance Armstrong Foundation. “The 21st Century Cancer ALERT Act and its authors’ leadership in reforming our nation’s approach to the war on cancer are a very welcome step forward to every member of the LIVESTRONG movement.”

Both quotes are from Ted Kennedy's press release, here.

Many thanks to the senators for getting this bill out there. I hope they do act on it soon.

Hat-tip to Elizabeth Edwards News and to Kali Star at the Mother Earth Health blog. I'll be adding EE News to BW's blogroll.

Elizabeth Edwards Buzz: Fighter Edition

(photo courtesy of Fourdogmom)






Greetings BW Readers,

I'm starting a new series called Elizabeth Edwards Buzz. This post is from one I posted at EENR Blog, and in a quick poll, I asked if there should be a separate EE Buzz. Most said yes. So away we go...

Elizabeth is back on the speaking tour and in the news. Last night, she spoke at the Progressive Forum in Houston. The Progressive Forum endeavors to:

enrich our democracy and culture by presenting the great minds who we believe are moving humanity and life towards success, speakers from all the fields of human endeavor—the sciences and humanities as well as politics and public affairs.

Other speakers have included Molly Ivins, Robert Redford, and Al Gore. Quite an esteemed bunch.

Fourdogmom blogger attended this session and said that Elizabeth spoke for 45 minutes. More from her CJ report:

Edwards spoke for about 45 minutes about her life as a breast cancer survivor and about the support she received, and continues to receive, from her family, friends, and strangers who reached out to her after her diagnosis. She talked about her children, including her son Wade who died in a car accident when he was in high school, and about her relationship with her husband, John Edwards.

After speaking, she answered some questions from the audience including a few about politics and the 2008 presidential race.

It was a wonderful event and has made me want to read her book Saving Graces...

Of course, being an Edwards News scout, I actually posted a question on the blog concerning Elizabeth's thoughts about the race and anything else she cared to elaborate on. Here's Fourdogmom's response:

Dear Benny,
She didn't talk about it too much. The emphasis was on her health and family. Someone asked her which candidate has the best health care plan and she said HRC because it will require every American to have coverage. She also answered a question about why her husband came out in support of Obama. She wasn't asked and never did say who she was supporting. She took a few little jabs at McCain but really wasn't too negative. She talked about the difference between socialized medicine and universal health care and why it is wrong when people (mostly R's) try to equate the two. I'm hoping the Progressive Forum will post a link to a video of the talk or sell a DVD.

But she added, and this what made the visit from Elizabeth even more special:

I didn't mention this in the blog but before she flew to Houston on Wednesday morning, she had undergone chemotherapy treatments. I was amazed as I sure everyone else was in the audience, by her stamina.

Fourdogmom

I suggested she have tissues handy when reading Saving Graces. She said she almost needed them last night when hearing her speak. And she gave me permission to post that pretty picture she took with her new camera.

Then, if one speaking engagement weren't enough for Elizabeth Edwards, she was on Larry King Live for a few minutes last night. First the video (courtesy of NC Dem Amy).



Now the transcript:

Larry King: Your reaction to the news about Senator Kennedy.

Elizabeth Edwards: Like everyone across the country, I'm extraordinarily sad to hear that Teddy is having to face this diagnosis. But I'm also incredibly confident that if anybody has the capability to fight for health care, he's fought for our health care across the country.

King: Have you had any contact with the senator or members of the family?

Edwards: My husband, John, has had a number of conversations. But John has had conversations with his wife, Vicki, to indicate our support and love for them. And, of course, we want to be able to be a sounding board for them for anything that we know.

He certainly has faced cancer before with his own son, so he knows what he's up against. I found it good to have role models of other people who are living with cancer around you as inspiration to you.

King: Earlier this month, you and Lance Armstrong testified before the senator's committee about the challenges and opportunities of fighting cancer. Was he supportive?

Edwards: Senator Kennedy and Senator Hutchison from Texas are introducing a bill, sort of a renewed war on cancer. President Nixon had this war, now Senator Kennedy and Senator Hutchison want to renew it with a real concerted and substantial effort. They've gotten a number of co-sponsors for it.

But Senator Kennedy was doing this before he knew that this was going to be his disease as well. He's doing it because it was the right thing to do. I hope that the coalition he's built will grow even stronger as people see around them someone who -- among them who is facing precisely this disease.

But he didn't do it for selfish reasons. His cancer bill was based on what the rest of us, my brothers and sisters, have been suffering with.

King: How is your own health?

Edwards: My health is good. I want to caution people. As they listen in these days to sort of grim diagnoses about what Senator Kennedy is facing. In the first place, we're hearing the general description from his doctors, but we're not hearing this same sort of grim statistics that we're hearing from other people who are talking about it.

And you heard exactly the same things from me. I am in no worse shape, if I had five years to live, and I hope I have lots more than that, a year ago, I still have five years to live, because I'm not in any different shape than I was then. Medicine has come a long way, and I don't think that we ought to be writing anybody's obituary. We ought to be thinking about how it is he's going to live with cancer as opposed to how someone dies with cancer.

It's not very cheerful hearing when everyone is talking, however nicely about you, as if you're on the edge of death. Until we hear otherwise, he is still the same strong vibrant man that he was. One of the people you had earlier on today on CNN suggested that he had a sister who had lived 13 years with this condition.

Larry King Live

You can read the rest of the interview there. She was crystal about not endorsing anyone, as she also said earlier this week at the Politico, News-Observer, etc.

This afternoon, Elizabeth was on NPR's Talk of the Nation. Elizabeth Edwards chose to be on the show to share her situation as a teachable moment. She begins her story with that strange day in November 2004 and "how many hands reached out to her." She wants women to go have their mammograms, and one of the first e-mails Elizabeth Edwards received was from a woman who decided to get her mammogram, and turned out she had a tumor, and proceeded to get treatment.

She also spoke about how her heart was broken about Ted Kennedy, particularly as she had testified two weeks ago and he had no idea he had the tumor when co-sponsoring a cancer bill.

Two callers shared their experiences with cancer, and that fighting attitude is a good one. Elizabeth remarked her fight was easier because she had a safety net of people. Both supported Elizabeth and why she continued on the campaign trail...a role model for other cancer fighters and survivors. The second caller said her insurance company tried to deny coverage for an operation she needed, and Teddy Kennedy was instrumental in persuading the company to cover the woman. She also said her Republican Senator, Susan Collins, was also helpful.

You can listen to the rest here.

It heartens me to see Elizabeth out and about, speaking out in the fight for all of us in terms of universal health care and sharing our stories for support.

More buzz l8tr..

Liberal Lion's Endorsement Unleashes Anger from NY NOW Chapter

As BW readers know, I am not a supporter of Clinton nor Obama. I was disappointed that Teddy didn't come out and support JRE considering they worked for years together on minimum wage issues and patients' bill of rights, but I was not totally surprised either that he endorsed Obama. Personally, I think the endorsement is a help to Obama, but it could be negative too in the long run, depending on who the nominee is on the other side. I'll address that issue in another post.

But this incendiary news release by NY NOW in its outburst about the Liberal Lion's endorsement is an embarrassment to feminists everywhere. The press release begins with this comment:

Women have just experienced the ultimate betrayal. Senator Kennedy’s endorsement of Hillary Clinton’s opponent in the Democratic presidential primary campaign has really hit women hard. Women have forgiven Kennedy, stuck up for him, stood by him, hushed the fact that he was late in his support of Title IX, the ERA, and the Family and Medical Leave Act to name a few.

WTF? The organization doesn't acknowledge that John Edwards is in the race. Never mind that Kate Michelman, past President of NARAL, is a senior advisor to the Edwards campaign, but perhaps they gave her a pass. Maybe it because they know Elizabeth Edwards is also a feminist.

However, like militant feminists who have done some good for us, but also have given feminism a bad taste in many citizens' mouths over the years, they believe Teddy has repaid them for their "good" name--debt he owes them-- in this way:

And now the greatest betrayal! We are repaid with his abandonment! He’s picked the new guy over us. He’s joined the list of progressive white men who can’t or won’t handle the prospect of a woman president who is Hillary Clinton (they will of course say they support a woman president, just not “this” one). “They” are Howard Dean and Jim Dean (Yup! That’s Howard’s brother) who run DFA (that’s the group and list from the Dean campaign that we women helped start and grow).

Since Teddy endorsed a man instead of a woman, they wrongly jump to this conclusion:

This latest move by Kennedy, is so telling about the status of and respect for women’s rights, women’s voices, women’s equality, women’s authority and our ability – indeed, our obligation- to promote and earn and deserve and elect, unabashedly, a President that is the first woman after centuries of men who “know what’s best for us.

Read the response by Feministe, a well-regarded feminist blog:

In case you didn’t get that, women have been betrayed by voting on the issues instead of according to what’s in their pants. It’s like the Lifetime Movie version of a shitty-to-begin-with press release.

Thank goodness for Feministe, the voice of reason. They are spot on in pointing out that NY NOW is protesting Kennedy as though he is tarnishing its cause. Feministing and Culture Kitchen blogs are on record as that NY NOW doesn't speak for them either.

Geez, no telling what they thought of Kate Michelman, former President of NARAL, when she was hired as a senior advisor to the Edwards campaign. Did Kate betray us too? I don't think so. Kate channeled Liza at Culture Kitchen when she penned this observation at Open Left:

As women take a second look at the candidates, now that attention is focusing more on the issues and how each of the candidates would lead, how they would make decisions; now that making a choice is becoming real, less about celebrity, more about being president, legitimate questions are being raised about Senator Clinton.

snip, still Open Left...and where Kate speaks for me, as I have been a feminist since I was 17, Pro-ERA, etc:

Any serious candidate for president should make their views clear and let the American people know where they stand on issues.

And any serious candidate for president should be held to the same standard - whether man or woman.

Have we have come a long way? Well, far enough to know better than to use our gender as a shield when the questions get too hot.

Maria Pappas should heed Kate's advice. Moreover, the Clintons need to get a grip and so do their staunch supporters. Granted, Obama had too many "present" votes about women's reproductive issues when he was in the IL senate, but it's my opinion that one militant group does not attack the Liberal Lion on feminist issues when he has been fighting for women and children a lot longer than the Clintons have. We have to remember Mrs. Clinton was a Goldwater girl when she entered college, after all, and Teddy was already fighting his brothers' causes for economic justice. Granted, Teddy has had his infamous share of problems with women, but most of it was his own personal problems, not political ones as far as I know.

This kind of attack does not serve them or those who have supported the civil rights--including feminists and gays--movement since we were young.

Keep marching Teddy. I don't support your candidate, but I don't think you've suddenly become being against feminism either.