Why we loved Ted

with a hat tip to Janetta and TPM, here is the Lion during the debate over a raise in the minimum wage:

Bill Day on the passing of Ted Kennedy

With thanks to Mark Ledbetter and Jeannette Warren for sending...

Our Congressman remembers Ted Kennedy

CONGRESSMAN COHEN REFLECTS ON THE LIFE OF SENATOR TED KENNEDY (1932-2009)

Memphis, TN – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9) issued the following personal remembrance of Senator Edward M. (Ted) Kennedy (D-MA) who passed away last night.

“The United States has lost a great leader. Senator Kennedy influenced legislation affecting the oppressed, the poor, the disabled, the sick and countless students. He never lost those core values that he espoused in his presidential run and his Senate tenure -- even when he “sailed against the wind.”

“Senator Kennedy worked with Republicans, particularly Presidents Reagan, George H.W. and George W. Bush, and with Senator Orrin Hatch, to advance the causes he knew could make America better.

“On a personal note, I was proud to lead the efforts for Senator Kennedy’s 1980 presidential run in Shelby County, and serve as Kennedy delegate at that year’s Democratic Convention. I have treasured a photograph of him giving his famous speech about the dream never dying which sits on my desk.

“I was pleased to attend the birthday gala celebration for Senator Kennedy at the 2004 Democratic Convention held at the Boston Symphony Hall. Much to the Senator’s delight, he got a kick out of my distributing many of the “Kennedy for President in 1980” buttons that I still had. He joyfully directed the Boston Symphony.

“Senator Kennedy was a true statesman and worked to bring peace to Northern Ireland. I remember fondly seeing his trademark smile and humor in action when the Irish Taoiseach (prime minister) came to address a joint session of Congress.

“Senator Kennedy was a tireless advocate for comprehensive, affordable and quality health care, including access to mental health care. He led the charge on creating CHIP that has provided millions of uninsured children the chance to start out life healthy. He fought to preserve the vital health care safety nets of Medicare and Medicaid that have helped seniors and low-income families have access to prescription drugs and doctors. In recent years, his dream was to make sure that all Americans have access to health care. Though he charted the course by which we all are sailing by today, I regret that he couldn’t captain the ship long enough to see his dream become a reality.

“I will miss Senator Kennedy most for his unwavering optimism and persistent fight to make tomorrow better than today. I will miss his leadership and counsel as Congress moves forward on debating the health care legislation that was so close to his heart. My thoughts are with his son, and my friend and colleague, Congressman Patrick Kennedy, and the entire Kennedy family.”

THIS is what a STATESMAN sounds like.

Text of Massachusetts Sen. Edward M. Kennedy's remarks Monday night at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, as transcribed by CQ Transcriptions.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Caroline.

My fellow Democrats, my fellow Americans, it is so wonderful to be here.

And nothing -- nothing is going to keep me away from this special gathering tonight.

I have come here tonight to stand with you to change America, to restore its future, to rise to our best ideals, and to elect Barack Obama president of the United States.

As I look ahead, I am strengthened by family and friendship. So many of you have been with me in the happiest days and the hardest days. Together we have known success and seen setbacks, victory and defeat.

But we have never lost our belief that we are all called to a better country and a newer world. And I pledge to you -- I pledge to you that I will be there next January on the floor of the United States Senate when we begin the great test.

Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you.

For me this is a season of hope -- new hope for a justice and fair prosperity for the many, and not just for the few -- new hope.

And this is the cause of my life -- new hope that we will break the old gridlock and guarantee that every American -- north, south, east, west, young, old -- will have decent, quality health care as a fundamental right and not a privilege.

We can meet these challenges with Barack Obama. Yes, we can, and finally, yes, we will.

Barack Obama will close the book on the old politics of race and gender and group against group and straight against gay.

And Barack Obama will be a commander in chief who understands that young Americans in uniform must never be committed to a mistake, but always for a mission worthy of their bravery.

We are told that Barack Obama believes too much in an America of high principle and bold endeavor, but when John Kennedy called of going to the moon, he didn't say it's too far to get there. We shouldn't even try.

Our people answered his call and rose to the challenge, and today an American flag still marks the surface of the moon.

Yes, we are all Americans. This is what we do. We reach the moon. We scale the heights. I know it. I've seen it. I've lived it.

And we can do it again.

There is a new wave of change all around us, and if we set our compass true, we will reach our destination -- not merely victory for our party, but renewal for our nation.

And this November the torch will be passed again to a new generation of Americans, so with Barack Obama and for you and for me, our country will be committed to his cause. The work begins anew. The hope rises again. And the dream lives on.

Keep fighting, Senator, we're pulling for you!

Bill Greene/Boston Globe

The Lion of the Senate has a malignant brain tumor, as most of you know by now. The prognosis is not good, but look at him here; does this look like a man who's prepared to give up? He has never given up on ANYTHING before, and I don't expect him to do so now.

Edward Moore Kennedy has fought for the things that matter throughout his 46-year career in the US Senate, whether it be healthcare for all, the rights of women and minorities, environmental and labor issues. He has done all this despite suffering from chronic back pain that resulted from a 1964 plane crash that nearly killed he and then-Senator Birch Bayh of Indiana. He NEVER gives up.

Not only that, he gets things DONE by working with people on both sides of the aisle, so much so that when it was announced at the REPUBLICAN policy meeting that Senator Kennedy had a brain tumor, they stopped what they were doing for a moment of prayer.

And so, that's what I want all of you to do, now and until he beats this thing: pray to the deity of your choosing for his full recovery, because we need him now, and President Obama will need him next spring. He's done so much for all of us, that's the least we can do for him.

This is my 900th post!!!! But that's NOT why I am writing.

As Sean Braisted has noted, the New York chapter of the National Organization for Women has attacked Senator Edward Kennedy for his endorsement of Barack Obama as a betrayal of women.

Yes, you read that correctly. Ted Kennedy, the iconic progressive in the United States Senate for nearly half a century, has betrayed women. Right.

As a progressive, I am disappointed that he chose Senator Obama rather than John Edwards, because I believe Edwards' positions are more reflective of his own, but after a lifetime of service, I'm sure as hell not going to attack him as a betrayer.

Since he joined the Senate in 1962, Ted Kennedy has been a stalwart and a statesman for progressive causes, especially with regard to women's issues like reproductive rights, protection of battered women, the Equal Rights Amendment, equal pay, among hundreds of issues. I can think of no one who has given more of his life in a legislative capacity, and this is how he is repaid?

What is even more aggravating is that, among Democrats, race and gender are supposed to be far less important when choosing a candidate. I know women of all colors supporting Edwards or Obama and not Clinton, men of all colors supporting Clinton and not Obama or Edwards, and African-Americans who are supporting Clinton or Edwards and not Obama. That's why this strikes me as being a remnant of the past, and, frankly, it's just sad.

I ask this question because, frankly, I don't know: When the FIRST female candidate for President (also from New York State), Shirley Chisholm, ran for President in 1972, how did the NY chapter of NOW (which I presume was around then) react to her defeat? Did they attack Senator Kennedy for not supporting her? I really would like to know.

As I have said and will say, one's skin color or gender does not guarantee or disqualify one from public office; that's why the NY NOW reaction to Kennedy's endorsement of Obama is so deeply disappointing on all levels.

Flame away.

UPDATE: Kim Gandy, the NATIONAL President of NOW, issues her OWN press release:

The National Organization for Women has enormous respect and admiration for Sen. Edward Kennedy (D- Mass.). For decades Sen. Kennedy has been a friend of NOW, and a leader and fighter for women's civil and reproductive rights, and his record shows that.

Though the National Organization for Women Political Action Committee has proudly endorsed Sen. Hillary Clinton for president, we respect Sen. Kennedy's endorsement. We continue to encourage women everywhere to express their opinions and exercise their right to vote.

All righty then!

The Senior Senator from Massachusetts makes it official

Dear Steve, Barack Obama inspires me. That's why I'm about to take the stage with him here in Washington and endorse his campaign to become the next president of the United States. It's that simple. Through Barack, I believe we will move beyond the politics of fear and personal destruction and unite our country with the politics of common purpose. All Democrats in this race have strong ideas to address the challenges before our country. But Barack is the candidate who can inspire Americans to act and bring us together to achieve those goals -- an economy that works for everyone, health care for all, and at long last ending the war in Iraq and bringing our troops home. Join me and become part of the Obama campaign today: http://www.democraticmajority.com/obama I remember another leader who inspired the nation, especially our youth, to fulfill a promise of change. Those inspired young people marched, sat in at lunch counters, protested the war in Vietnam and served honorably in that war even when they opposed it. That leader challenged them to ask what they could do for their country and, together, they changed the world. So in the words of that leader, John Kennedy: "The world is changing. The old ways will not do... It is time for a new generation of leadership." I have found that next generation of American leadership in Barack Obama. Take a moment to join his campaign: http://www.democraticmajority.com/obama I respect the strength, the work and dedication of two other Democrats still in the race, Hillary Clinton and John Edwards. They are my friends; they have been my colleagues in the Senate. Whoever is our nominee will have my enthusiastic support. But I believe there is one candidate whose extraordinary gifts of leadership and character match the extraordinary demands of this moment in history. Barack will be a president who refuses to be trapped in the patterns of the past. He sees the world clearly without being cynical. He fights for the causes he believes in -- but refuses to demonize those who hold a different view. He's tough-minded, but he also has an uncommon capacity to appeal to "the better angels of our nature." In Barack Obama, I see not just the audacity, but the possibility of hope for the America that is yet to be. I love this country. I believe in the bright light of hope and possibility. I always have, even in the darkest hours. I know what America can achieve. I've seen it. I've lived it -- and with Barack Obama, we can do it again. Sincerely, Senator Edward M. Kennedy

Paid for by The Committee for a Democratic Majority