Ted Kennedy and the day that was

By Michael J.W. Stickings

I'm currently working on a piece for The Guardian on Suaad Hagi Mohamud, the Kenyan-Canadian who was detained in Nairobi a few months ago for not looking enough like her passport photo. Canadian officials refused to come to her defence and actually pushed for her to be prosecuted, with the government back in Ottawa doing nothing to help until a DNA test proved her identity. So I won't be blogging much until tomorrow evening.

In the meantime, make sure to check out some great posts by my co-bloggers, including two from this afternoon by J. Thomas Duffy (one on the Kennedy legacy, one on the Little League World Series), two from Capt. Fogg (one on right-wing doublethink, one on Rush Limbaugh's attacks on Kennedy), and a glowing Kennedy obituary from Carl. I also had health-care-related posts up on McCain, Coburn, and Feingold.

Stay tuned for more from the Reaction team.

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I've been thinking a great deal about Ted Kennedy today. Needless to say, I was appalled by how some on the right took the occasion of Kennedy's death to go on the attack -- appalled, but not surprised.

For the most part, though, Kennedy received the tributes he deserved, including from some Republicans. He was one of the towering figures in American politics, a giant of decades in the political spotlight. I think Obama himself put it well (in an e-mail that his supporters, myself included, received this evening):

For nearly five decades, virtually every major piece of legislation to advance the civil rights, health and economic well-being of the American people bore his name and resulted from his efforts. His ideas and ideals are stamped on scores of laws and reflected in millions of lives -- in seniors who know new dignity; in families that know new opportunity; in children who know education's promise; and in all who can pursue their dream in an America that is more equal and more just, including me. In the United States Senate, I can think of no one who engendered greater respect or affection from members of both sides of the aisle. His seriousness of purpose was perpetually matched by humility, warmth and good cheer. He battled passionately on the Senate floor for the causes that he held dear, and yet still maintained warm friendships across party lines. And that's one reason he became not only one of the greatest senators of our time, but one of the most accomplished Americans ever to serve our democracy.

Ted Kennedy (1932-2009). America, and the world, would have been much less without him. He will be greatly missed, and never fully replaced.