The Lion Sleeps Tonight (and Tomorrow, and the Night After That…)

(Kudos to Joy)

Or
The Last Splash
(Props to Don)

Or
Ted’s Dead Baby. Ted’s Dead
(Additional Accolades for Don)

Or
Has Anybody Seen the Deceased’s Pants?
(More Merit for Don)
Edward M. “Ted” Kennedy, whose largesse screwed up driving in Boston for the better part of two decades, has succumbed to brain cancer at the age of 77, only the 4th Kennedy man to die of natural causes in the last 150 years. His death is seen as a blow to his goal for health care reform, as once again he fails to see something through. He had presidential aspirations from 1972-1984, but never got close. He failed at his first marriage. He wanted to block Clarence Thomas’ Supreme Court nomination, but was cowed into silence by his own sexual misadventures and his nephew’s ongoing rape trial. About the only thing he ever finished off was Mary Jo Kopechne. But that’s all water under the bridge. Overcoming a lifetime of family dinners with the unspoken thought, “4 sons and you’re what I have left?” Kennedy was the third-longest serving senator in U.S. history, authoring more than 300 bills that became law and shepherding many more through the legislative process. He was an outspoken champion of liberal causes, including immigration reform, health care, anti-Apartheid, the Americans with Disabilities Act, education and civil rights. His early and vocal opposition to the 1987 nomination of Robert Bork to the Supreme Court helped ensure his defeat, and by Bork’s own admission, ensured the Roe v. Wade decision would not be overturned. Other career highlights – taking Holy Communion at the Vatican from Pope Pius XII, getting a letter of interest from the Green Bay Packers after his junior year at Harvard, managed JFK’s 1958 Senate campaign, and in 1964 became the only Kennedy to survive a plane crash.