Ted Kennedy was eulogized today with all the expected and unfortunate pageantry:
BOSTON — Under relentless rain and with heavy hearts, hundreds of mourners both great and ordinary bade farewell to Senator Edward M. Kennedy here on Saturday.
He was remembered as the beloved youngest child of a dynasty who grew to be its patriarch, a man who left his mark on millions of Americans through the laws he shepherded over more than four decades, during which he became one of the most powerful political figures in the country.
President Obama gave the eulogy in a hushed church before 1,400 mourners as Mr. Kennedy neared the end of a 77-year journey through history that was to conclude with his burial at Arlington National Cemetery on Saturday evening.
“Today we say goodbye to the youngest child of Rose and Joseph Kennedy,” Mr. Obama said. “The world will long remember their son Edward as the heir to a weighty legacy, a champion for those who had none, the soul of the Democratic Party, and the lion of the United States Senate — a man whose name graces nearly 1,000 laws, and who penned more than 300 laws himself.”
Mr. Obama owes Mr. Kennedy an inestimable debt for his endorsement in last year’s primary campaign battle for the Democratic presidential nomination against Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. Mr. Obama repaid it in part with eloquent words of praise, saying Mr. Kennedy had suffered more pain and loss than most people will ever know, yet he never succumbed to self-pity or abandoned his dreams and principles.
“The greatest expectations were placed upon Ted Kennedy’s shoulders because of who he was, but he surpassed them all because of who he became,” the president said. “We do not weep for him today because of the prestige attached to his name or his office. We weep because we loved this kind and tender hero who persevered through pain and tragedy — not for the sake of ambition or vanity, not for wealth or power, but only for the people and the country that he loved.”
The funeral was at the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in the Roxbury section of Boston, a 130-year-old Romanesque church known as a place of healing. Mr. Kennedy prayed there every day when his daughter Kara was being treated for lung cancer several years ago at a nearby hospital.
Here’s President Obama’s eulogy:
And, Part Two:
This is an honest question…I’m not trying to be rude. Who’s paying for Kennedy’s funeral? I’m from California, our state is broke. Both my husband and my finances have been dramatically reduced because of the economy. Why are we spending this kind of money on a man who was not a president? We’ve had other senators who were in office for decades but they didn’t receive this kind of honor. I understand that he was the brother of a president but he was also a man that most likely, had it not been for his family’s influence and wealth would have gone to jail for manslaughter. I have no problem with people giving his death honor in their own way, nor would I mind if his home state wanted to foot the bill–but, frankly, I resent the federal government doing it. He was neither my president nor my senator…
Probably his family. I’m sure he had a good life-insurance policy.