Chappaquiddick was bad, but this was in a day and age when the risks of drunk driving were not as respected. More to the point most of the right wing people I've known who use this as a weapon to attack, have often had drunk driving run-ins of their own, and most of the time don't know much about the guy. If you really want to talk about poor behavior on the part of the elected see: http://www.republicanoffenders.com/index.html
There is a reason he always gets support here in MA, even from the right. That's because he brings home the bacon, and we in MA know it. Off and on over the years Higher education has been this states leading industry. Kennedy is one of the big reasons this country has the student loan program it does. So if you ever got one of those you owe the man a pat on the back. And the student loan program is the only loan program the US gov has always made a profit on. I met the him when I was in college at UMass in the late '70ies and volunteered as a student lobbyist.
Ted Kennedy also played a big part in the weapons development and funding policies in Washington. In the heat of the cold war there was a reason we were investing in smarter weapons rather than larger numbers as the Russians did. Ted was at the front of that push, not only because it echoed JFK's commitment to the space program, but also because it was a way for the higher education and high tech industries to support national defense.
These are just two of the big contributions I know he's been in the lead on. With just a little effort, no doubt, I could give a huge list. Yeh, folks who don't know his contributions tend to parrot the right wing on this, but the main reason the right wing alway holds him up for attack is because he's such a strong Democrat.
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2008-08-27 03:10 am (UTC)Chappaquiddick was bad, but this was in a day and age when the risks of drunk driving were not as respected. More to the point most of the right wing people I've known who use this as a weapon to attack, have often had drunk driving run-ins of their own, and most of the time don't know much about the guy. If you really want to talk about poor behavior on the part of the elected see: http://www.republicanoffenders.com/index.html
There is a reason he always gets support here in MA, even from the right. That's because he brings home the bacon, and we in MA know it. Off and on over the years Higher education has been this states leading industry. Kennedy is one of the big reasons this country has the student loan program it does. So if you ever got one of those you owe the man a pat on the back. And the student loan program is the only loan program the US gov has always made a profit on. I met the him when I was in college at UMass in the late '70ies and volunteered as a student lobbyist.
Ted Kennedy also played a big part in the weapons development and funding policies in Washington. In the heat of the cold war there was a reason we were investing in smarter weapons rather than larger numbers as the Russians did. Ted was at the front of that push, not only because it echoed JFK's commitment to the space program, but also because it was a way for the higher education and high tech industries to support national defense.
These are just two of the big contributions I know he's been in the lead on. With just a little effort, no doubt, I could give a huge list. Yeh, folks who don't know his contributions tend to parrot the right wing on this, but the main reason the right wing alway holds him up for attack is because he's such a strong Democrat.