The Concept of 'Too Soon' (Ted Kennedy)

Ted Kennedy died today. Or late yesterday. It doesn't really matter.

A few of you are now thinking, 'Wait, did he just say that it doesn't matter that Ted Kennedy died? Man, he's being insensitive, at least wait until they bury him.'

Now onto the gist of this segment. Ted Kennedy was a Mass. senator who stood for pretty much everything that I believe is wrong with this country. I don't know of a single political talking point that he and I would have agreed on. I believe that he made many decisions and cast many votes that harmed the American populace. Additionally, I think that his personal mistakes far outweighed any other positive influence he may have had. (Ever heard of Mary Jo Kopechne? If not... look it up.) Finally, his death may have the most positive influence of anything that he acheieved in his entire life. His death removes a critical Democratic vote from the senate and will almost assuredly delay any healthcare vote for at least 145 days due to Mass. state law concerning the process of filing his sentae seat. He will do greater in death than he did in life.

Bam! Now I definitely have some people saying that I've jumped the gun, I'm speaking ill of the dead, I'm celebrating death and what have you.

But I'm not! I did not wish this man dead and I didn't wish any negative thing upon him! The fact is that I did not know Ted Kennedy. I was not acquainted with him; he didn't call me up on the phone for some casual conversation, and I am not on speaking terms with his family. He didn't even leave me in his will. During my life, the only type of discussion I've ever had about him was political and I simply don't understand why that should change now. Ted Kennedy was a political figure. Now that he's died there's nothing left about HIM for me to discuss and all that's left is the political hole he left behind.

I'm not saying that people should immediately berate those who pass away, however, I don't believe that death should inherently impart some halo of reverance that an individual did not deserve. I will talk about those in death as I spoke of them in life; if they lived as well as they ought to have than they won't have anything to worry about.

What's the Point?

The point of this blog is to give myself some room to discuss those things I deem worth my time. Most of these will be sparked by a news story or something, but all of which I'd like to have a conversation about. I'm perfectly with people disagreeing with me, in fact it happens commonly, but if you're going to argue with me please have both a point and a valid argument. (Proper grammar would also be a plus)