Surprise, surprise, surprise. You can teach an old dog a new trick. Rarely in the political world does one see such surprises as we did in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. A longstanding near-monarchy has crumbled with the last of the Kennedys. The senate seat held in trust by the royal family of the United States has been ceded to a Republican.
I am neither in awe of the Kennedy legacy nor do I loathe them. They are simply part of my life since some of my earliest memories. I distinctly remember watching JFK's funeral on the television. But, a funny thing happened on the way to the party. The voters rose up and threw off their mantle of compliance. Without Teddy to pull them together I am afraid the relevance of the Kennedy clan will now fall into oblivion. There is simply no one left with the cache and history to lead them.
That absence leaves a distinct void in the Commonwealth. Who do we now turn to? For the first time in forty years the voters must think for themselves. Perhaps they have found a new voice. Not the voice of their newly elected senator, but their own voices. They have spoken anew for the first time and let the elected politicians know it's no longer acceptable for officials to simply do what they want. For the first time in memory they must be accountable for their leadership. If we don't want a system of social entitlement programs, massive government or monster deficits, you can't shove them down our throats.
For the first time in forty years, power to the people. Just as a parent must at some time let his child leave the nest, Teddy shouldn't be sad looking down, he should be glad his flock has found their voice.
Ramblings of a 60 Year Old Man - My thoughts on just about anything, in no particular order; Robert Thomas - author.
After all the machinations the MA state pols got away with, changing the rules of how to replace The Liberal Lion just because they could, perhaps it finally came around to bite them in the posterior.
ReplyDeleteThe best quote was "It's not Ted Kennedy's seat! It's the people's seat!"
Good on 'ya, Scott Brown.
While there is no such thing as a God-given seat in Congress or any other legislative, judicial, or executive body, there is almost nothing on which this man campaigned of which people can really be proud. He has his chance to prove that he can be a "representative" of the people, but fairness, compassion, and equality have not been "representative" of his opinions and positions to this point.
ReplyDeleteI do not know what Mr. Brown campaigned on. In this day and age I would simply guess it was anti-Obama. However, how much of the past forty years were what the people of Mass. wanted versus what Ted Kennedy wanted? I'll bet they didn't always go hand-in-hand.
ReplyDeleteHe may well have gotten elected just campaigning on a slogan of "Hey!How's that hope and change workin' for ya?"
ReplyDeleteI just think they got so confused without a Kendy on the ballet that they picked the wrong guy without realizing it!
ReplyDelete