Free Republic

Six Candidates Seek Ted Kennedy’s SeatBy JIM HICKEY Islanders go the polls in the state primary on Tuesday to cast votes that will help choose Democratic and Republican candidates to run for the Massachusetts seat in the U.S. Senate left vacant in August when longtime Sen. Edward M. Kennedy — who held the seat for 46 years — died after a 14-month battle with brain cancer. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. in every town. The four Democratic candidates are Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, Stephen Pagliuca, a managing partner of the Boston Celtics, U.S. Rep. Mike...

Representative Patrick Kennedy Boston, Mass., Dec 3, 2009 / 07:48 am (CNA).- Representative Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) has decided to pull out of the Communion controversy after unsuccessfully “milking" his confrontation with Bishop Thomas J. Tobin, said Joe Fitzgerald, a political analyst from the Boston Herald.Fitzgerald wrote: "Patrick Kennedy’s announcement that he’s 'not going to indulge in this debate any longer,' referring to his rejection of Catholic Church beliefs, was reminiscent of a strategy George Aiken floated at the height of the Vietnam War: 'Declare victory and pull out!' the late Vermont senator suggested.”The Boston Herald columnist added that Kennedy...

Patrick Kennedy’s announcement that he’s “not going to indulge in this debate any longer,” referring to his rejection of Catholic Church beliefs, was reminiscent of a strategy George Aiken floated at the height of the Vietnam War. “Declare victory and pull out!” the late Vermont senator suggested. Speaking at a Brown University forum Monday evening, Kennedy said he was pulling out, having milked his confrontation with Bishop Thomas J. Tobin for all it was worth after igniting it by indiscreetly disclosing a private communication he had received from the latter. Tobin had informed him it would be inappropriate to receive...

Rhode Island’s own Bishop Thomas Tobin went head-to-head with Chris Matthews on MSNBC’s Hardball last Wednesday. While it is uncertain who won the confrontation, it is quite clear that Matthews was wrong. Whatever Rhode Island Congressman Patrick Kennedy is, he is not a good Catholic. Bishop Tobin is free to tell him as much without exposing himself to accusations of “transgressing into the law.” The casus belli was Patrick Kennedy’s public announcement that he was asked to refrain from taking communion by Bishop Tobin in February 2007. The Bishop told Rep. Kennedy that certain positions he took as a legislator...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Rep. Patrick Kennedy says all people deserve health care because they are "children of God" in his first public appearance since escalating a public feud with Rhode Island's Roman Catholic bishop over abortion and health care. The Democratic lawmaker spoke Monday at a panel discussion at Brown University.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Brown University police forcibly removed a man attending a panel discussion about the politics of health care this afternoon after the man told Rhode Island Congressman Patrick Kennedy: ``You're not Catholic if you force Catholics into funding abortion.'' Kennedy was one of four panelists at the discussion. After each panelist made brief introductory remarks, the 200 people in the audience were allowed to ask questions. Christopher Young, a perpetual candidate for several public offices in Rhode Island, was the second person to take the microphone. As he made a loud and rambling statement about public funds being...

"Let the healthcare bill allow for one sterilization for everyone of these whacked out females who are so intent on killing babies . . . Then . . . if these Femme-a-Nazis want to have a child, they can rent one." Reader comment posted on my Nov. 25 column Incendiary e-mails are still rolling in on Wednesday's column. It proves you can't write about abortion, women and Catholic bishops and not get heavy heat. Add universal health care to the conversation? Kaboom! It's OK. I've had great role models in taking heat. Jack Egan, for one. In the winter of...

Asked during last night’s Republican debate about whether his campaign was downplaying his health care plan, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney replied, “I love it.” While praising the plan as a model of bipartisanship — and citing support for it from both Ted Kennedy and the Heritage Foundation — Romney failed to tell viewers what was in the plan. It’s worth reminding people, therefore, that the plan Romney loves: Imposes an unprecedented individual mandate, requiring everyone in Massachusetts to purchase a government-designated insurance product or face thousands of dollars in tax penalties. Significantly increased Medicaid eligibility and provided taxpayer-funded subsidies...

November 27, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - With the Patrick Kennedy Communion flap and the recent action of the Bishops of Spain having opened up the issue of denying communion to pro-abortion politicians, it is worthwhile to review the position of the Vatican on the matter.Since the controversy came to a head in 2004, the stance from the Vatican on the matter has been clear and consistent.  For the Pope and top Curial Cardinals in charge of the matter there is no question about the responsibility to deny Holy Communion to Catholic politicians who obstinately support abortion. In fact, the issue was closed...

The widow of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy told Oprah Winfrey in an interview broadcast Wednesday that even as her husband knew he was dying of brain cancer he had been "in training" to make sure he had enough strength to attend President Barack Obama's inauguration. In the most extensive interview since her husband's death in August, Vicki Kennedy said she wouldn't try to run for her husband's former U.S. Senate seat and described how he battled brain cancer — but she would not talk about the last thing he said to her before dying. "I think I'll just keep...

In an effort that has produced heated public feuds as well as significant changes in proposed health care legislation, religious leaders are zeroing in on followers of their faith in Congress to make sure that taxpayer money will not be used to fund abortions.  The latest confrontation comes between Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., an abortion-rights supporter, and Roman Catholic Bishop Thomas Tobin, who asked Kennedy not to receive Holy Communion if he maintained his position.  The tension is palpable as senators prepare to take up a version of legislation that pro-life leaders say does not provide the same assurances as...

Chris Matthews / Bishop Thomas Tobin Washington D.C., Nov 24, 2009 / 03:06 pm (CNA).- On Monday Bishop Thomas Tobin tangled with television pundit Chris Matthews on MSNBC’s “Hardball” about the relation between religion and politics as well as the legal status of abortion. Matthews’ comments, which charged that the bishop has overstepped his authority, were criticized as a “rant” and an “extended lecture.”Bishop Tobin, of the Diocese of Providence has been critical of Rhode Island U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy’s attacks on the Church for opposing abortion. Rep. Kennedy recently revealed that the bishop had asked him to refrain...

For the first time since her legendary husband’s August death, Victoria Reggie Kennedy is poised to face the nation tomorrow in a rare and emotional sitdown with TV talk queen Oprah Winfrey - a heart-rending tribute in which the stately widow reveals her last months with Sen. Edward M. Kennedy. During the wide-ranging, one-hour interview - taped last Friday at Winfrey’s Chicago studios - Kennedy talks about her 17-year marriage to the liberal lion and her late husband’s memoir, “True Compass” and discloses behind-the-scenes tidbits between the couple.

Gerry Moniz didn't hesitate when asked what she thinks of the nationally publicized dispute between Providence Bishop Thomas J. Tobin and Patrick Kennedy over whether the congressman should refrain from taking Communion given his support for abortion rights. "I think Patrick Kennedy is wrong," Moniz, 56, said when asked to comment on Monday at an East Providence shopping plaza. A Catholic from West Greenwich, she added, "If he doesn't want to be Catholic, he should go to another church. The rules of the Catholic Church are, "We don't approve of abortion.' And he doesn't like that." At St. Francis Chapel...

Rep. Patrick Kennedy’s dispute with Rhode Island Roman Catholic Bishop Thomas Tobin attracted national attention on Sunday when Kennedy said that Tobin had asked him to refrain from receiving communion because of his pro-abortion views. MSNBC television talk show host Chris Matthews debated Bishop Tobin today about abortion, law and Rep. Kennedy’s Holy Communion:

Bishop: Patrick Kennedy Misrepresenting Letter on Communion, Abortion Washington, DC -- Congressman Patrick Kennedy, a pro-abortion member from Rhode Island, says Bishop Thomas Tobin has asked him to stop receiving communion because of his pro-abortion views. However, Tobin says the demand was merely a voluntary request that was issued two years ago and meant to be private. http://www.lifenews.com/state4590.html

Bishop Tobin has released a response to Congessman Kennedy's earlier statements on not being allowed communion because of his position on abortion. Statement of Bishop Thomas Tobin in Response to Congressman Patrick Kennedy's Published Interview of November 22, 2009 Bishop Tobin says: I am disappointed and really surprised that Congressman Patrick Kennedy has chosen to reopen the public discussion about his practice of the faith and his reception of Holy Communion. This comes almost two weeks after the Congressman indicated to local media that he would no longer comment publicly on his faith or his relationship with the Catholic Church....

Massachusetts voters will have to wait until Jan. 19 to elect a successor to Sen. Edward Kennedy, but Gov. Deval Patrick is pushing to name an interim appointee in the meantime.... Right now, Massachusetts law does not allow the governor to appoint a temporary Senate replacement. But Patrick said he supported plans for a hearing Sept. 9 on a bill that would give him the power to do just that.

The Roman Catholic bishop of Rhode Island says he asked Rep. Patrick Kennedy to stop receiving Holy Communion in 2007 because of the lawmaker's stand on what he called moral issues. Kennedy told The Providence Journal in a story published Sunday that Bishop Thomas Tobin "instructed" him not to receive Communion because of his abortion rights stance. Kennedy said diocesan priests have been told not to give him Communion, but he did not explain how he knew that. Tobin said in a statement Sunday that he "has never addressed matters relative to public officials receiving Holy Communion with pastors of...

Congressman Patrick Kennedy has been barred from receiving Communion by his Bishop in Rhode Island. Bishop Thomas Tobin has barred Patrick, the son of the late Senator Edward Kennedy, because of his position on abortion rights.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Roman Catholic Bishop Thomas Tobin has banned Rep. Patrick Kennedy from receiving Communion, the central sacrament of the church, in Rhode Island because of the congressman's support for abortion rights, Kennedy said in a newspaper interview published Sunday.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Roman Catholic Bishop Thomas Tobin has banned Rep. Patrick Kennedy from receiving Communion, the central sacrament of the church, in Rhode Island because of the congressman's support for abortion rights, Kennedy said in a newspaper interview published Sunday.The decision by the outspoken prelate, reported on The Providence Journal's Web site, significantly escalates a bitter dispute between Tobin, an ultra orthodox bishop, and Kennedy, a son of the nation's most famous Roman Catholic family."The bishop instructed me not to take Communion and said that he has instructed the diocesan priests not to give me Communion," Kennedy told the...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Rep. Patrick Kennedy says Roman Catholic Bishop Thomas Tobin has barred him from receiving communion because of his support of abortion rights. The Providence Journal reports on its Web site Sunday that Kennedy said in an interview that Tobin issued the order during discussions with the Democratic lawmaker, further escalating a simmering ideological dispute between the two men. Under church rules, Tobin can prevent Kennedy from receiving communion within his diocese, which covers Rhode Island. It’s unclear whether bishops outside Rhode Island will take the same path.

HOW do you tell a wealthy heiress from a family farmer? It sounds like the setup for a joke. But in fact it is the fundamental problem underlying sensible reform of the federal estate tax. Members of Congress are hoping to revise the current law on the estate tax by the end of this year; if they don’t, the estate tax will disappear for a year. Lawmakers should use the opportunity to solve the farmer/heiress riddle once and for all and move our tax system closer to the values on which the country was founded — that hard work should...

Scott Brown acknowledges that he faces an uphill battle as ... Republican seeking to fill Edward M. Kennedy's U.S. Senate seat. Although the seat has been in Democrats' hands since the 1950s and more than a decade has passed since Massachusetts voters sent a Republican to Congress, Brown, one of just five Republicans in the state Senate, says there is no inevitability to a Democrat victory. "This isn't a Democratic seat, it's a seat of the people of Massachusetts," said Brown, 50, whose victory in a 2004 special election to fill a state Senate seat vacated by a Democrat was...

WHEN IT comes to America’s most famous Catholic family, no true compass guides the Roman Catholic Church. (snip) With Patrick Kennedy, the cassocks are off. After Representative Kennedy of Rhode Island questioned why the church is vowing to fight any health care bill that does not explicitly ban the use of public money for abortions, Bishop Thomas J. Tobin of Providence fired back. Tobin called Kennedy’s support of abortion rights “a deliberate and obstinate act of will’’ that was “unacceptable to the church and scandalous to many of our members.’’ In a radio interview, Tobin went on to say, “If...

Dear Congressman Kennedy: “The fact that I disagree with the hierarchy on some issues does not make me any less of a Catholic.” (Congressman Patrick Kennedy) Since our recent correspondence has been rather public, I hope you don’t mind if I share a few reflections about your practice of the faith in this public forum. I usually wouldn’t do that – that is speak about someone’s faith in a public setting – but in our well-documented exchange of letters about health care and abortion, it has emerged as an issue. I also share these words publicly with the thought that...

Among likely Democratic voters (27% of whom know that the special primary for the late Ted Kennedy's Senate seat is next month), Attorney General Martha Coakley holds a commanding lead with 44% of the vote, followed by businessman Steve Pagliuca (17%), Rep. Michael Capuano (16%) and City Year co-founder Alan Khazei (3%), according to a new Suffolk University poll (Nov. 4-8, 600 RV). One-fifth of likely voters remain undecided. On the GOP side, just 6% of voters know that a special GOP primary will be held in less than a month. Still, State Sen. Scott Brown leads former statewide candidate...

Shopping at Saks Fifth Avenue in Washington, D.C. recently, Maria Shriver and her daughter left all the clothes the daughter tried on -- but didn't purchase -- on the floor of the dressing room. The sales staff was shocked that Shriver allowed her daughter, whose father is California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, to leave her rejects in a pile during their visit in mid-October. "She left the dressing room in a shambles," according to a sales clerk. "Why doesn't Maria Shriver teach her daughter manners and respect for others?" Shriver writes: "My role model, like most daughters, was my mother. She...

Among those Catholics in public life who openly defy the clear teaching of the Catholic Church concerning the inviolable dignity of every human life from conception to natural death is Representative Patrick Kennedy. The son of the late Senator Edward “Ted” Kennedy, he represents Rhode Island’s First Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives. We bring to our readers the full text of a letter which Congressman Kennedy received from his Bishop, Thomas J. Tobin. This letter was in response to Kennedy's public defiance against the truth revealed in the Natural Law, confirmed by science, affirmed in Scripture...

Dear Congressman Kennedy: “The fact that I disagree with the hierarchy on some issues does not make me any less of a Catholic.” (Congressman Patrick Kennedy)Since our recent correspondence has been rather public, I hope you don’t mind if I share a few reflections about your practice of the faith in this public forum. I usually wouldn’t do that – that is speak about someone’s faith in a public setting – but in our well-documented exchange of letters about health care and abortion, it has emerged as an issue. I also share these words publicly with the thought that they...

Jack Spillane column: A cup of joe with a guy named Steve (Pagliuca, that is)By Jack Spillane November 08, 2009 12:00 AM He's actually better in person than his ads. I'm talking about Steve Pagliuca, the venture capitalist and Celtics co-owner who's running for Ted Kennedy's Senate seat. In the wake of my initial column about Pagliuca, I had the opportunity to sit down with him for a short interview this week. He had toured a New Bedford scallop company — which must have been in between his cutting TV ads. (I don't need to tell you, of course, that...

Scott Brown knows he faces an uphill battle as a Republican seeking to fill Ted Kennedy’s U.S. Senate seat. Until last week, when Jack E. Robinson filed nomination papers, Brown was the only member of the GOP seeking the seat, which is also the goal of four Democrats. Although the seat has been in Democratic hands since the 1950s, and more than a decade has passed since Massachusetts voters sent a Republican to Congress, Brown, one of just five Republicans in the state Senate, said there is no inevitability to a Democrat victory. “This isn’t a Democratic seat; it’s a...

WARREN KOZAK "All war is based on deception." —Sun Tzu In the summer of 1962, the leader of the great Soviet empire, Nikita Khrushchev, faced a serious problem. His huge intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) didn't work. Their launchers were unreliable, their aim was off and the fuel used to rocket them skyward was so volatile that they had to be stored empty. In case of an attack, they would first have to be tanked up before being fired. The Soviet premier understood that since his ICBMs were a crucial part of his nuclear balance with the U.S., this put him...

Bishop Thomas J. Tobin of Providence has invited Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., to engage in a discussion about the issue of health care reform following the legislator's sharp criticism about the U.S. Catholic bishops' role in the debate. Bishop Tobin told Kennedy in an Oct. 27 letter that, as Congress "nears agreement on a final bill, I believe it is important that you are provided with specific facts about the Catholic Church's position on this critical issue." As of early afternoon Oct. 28, the congressman had not responded to the bishop's invitation. The bishop sent his letter in response to...

Rep. Patrick Kennedy / Archbishop Timothy Dolan New York City, N.Y., Oct 27, 2009 / 09:55 pm (CNA).- Joining the response to U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy’s charge that the Catholic bishops are spreading discord on health care reform, Archbishop of New York Timothy Dolan has said the congressman’s remarks were “sad, uncalled-for, and inaccurate” and has asked for an apology.In an interview with CNSNews.com, Rep. Kennedy (D-RI), son of the late U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy, had accused the Catholic Church of fanning “the flames of dissent and discord” because Catholic bishops declared that they will oppose the proposed health...

Where is Tina Fey now that we need her? Martha Coakley is the front-runner for the Dem nomination for US Senate for Ted Kennedy's old seat. In a recent debate, asked about her lack of foreign policy experience, the first credential Coakley offered in response was that "I have a sister who lives overseas, and she's been in England and now lives in the Middle East." View video here.

First Lady continues her misunderstanding of California's vehicular lawsVigilant paparazzi have been keeping extra close tabs on California's First Lady Maria Shriver ever since she was caught breaking the state's hands-free law. Once again, it appears Shriver has been busted. Shriver allegedly parked her non-emergency vehicle in a red zone, TMZ reported Monday: Arnold's really gonna be seeing red after this because his scofflaw wife once again blatantly disobeyed the rules of the road ... and parked her non-emergency vehicle in a red zone!!!! We're told Maria Shriver left her Escalade in the verboten spot for almost an hour while...

[Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I) told CNSNews.com that the Catholic Church is doing nothing but fanning “the flames of dissent and discord” by taking the position that it will oppose the health-care reform bill under consideration in Congress unless it is amended to explicitly prohibit funding of abortion.] Bishop Tobin's rejoinder: “Congressman Patrick Kennedy’s statement about the Catholic Church’s position on health care reform is irresponsible and ignorant of the facts. But the Congressman is correct in stating that “he can’t understand.” He got that part right. As I wrote to Congressman Kennedy and other members of the Rhode Island Congressional...

Debate continues to rage over abortion coverage in all of the health care reform bills. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops have made it clear that they cannot and will not support any proposal that includes abortion coverage. Responding to the Bishops, Representative Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) recently slammed the Church, saying that it was fanning “the flames of dissent and discord,� by opposing the health care reform bills under consideration unless they are amended to explicity prohibit abortion funding. “I can’t understand for the life of me how the Catholic Church could be against the biggest social justice issue of...

A petulant Chris Matthews wouldn’t talk about MSNBC’s recent ratings dip during an interview flogging his fawning essay on the late Sen. Edward Kennedy that’s in the November issue of Boston magazine. “Let’s just drop all the conversation about my network,” the “Hardball” host huffed the other day. “I’m not a media critic.” It could be that Matthews got a little hot under the collar because his left-leaning network has been losing viewers. During the recent third-quarter ratings period, Fox News averaged about 2.26 million total viewers in prime time and was up 2 percent from the same time last...

Is there anything left to be said—or seen—when it comes to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy? Just you wait. JFK: 3 Shots That Changed America, a two-part, four-hour special airing on History [Sunday, October 11, 9/8c and Monday, October 12, 9/8c] takes viewers back to November 22, 1963 and tells the story via a timeline using only archival news footage, much of which will be new even to assassination buffs. There is no narration (sorry, Peter Coyote). There are no talking heads. The project’s exec producers Nicole Rittenmeyer and Seth Skundrick used a similar technique in last year’s...

On Sunday night, the History channel be gins a remarkable three-hour, two-part program on the assassination of JFK, perhaps the best on that subject you will ever see. And even if you think you've seen it all and can't bear to see it again, well, then think again.

In a draft chapter that failed to make the final editor’s cut, the late Senator Ted Kennedy boasted that he had slept with more than 1,000 women during his life. The Senator also recounted that he was quite pleased that it only cost him a total of $10 million in hush money. “In a way, the drowning of Mary Jo helped keep down the costs,” Kennedy wrote. “My ability to skate on that convinced many of my subsequent conquests to be reasonable in their demands lest a similar fate befall them.” The chapter also expressed some regret over the Kopechne...

Ol'd Ted is gone but not forgotten.

Board chairman: Brannon dismissed for fiscal, not political, reasons COEUR d'ALENE -- Ninety minutes before his live, televised debate for a Coeur d'Alene city council seat was to begin Wednesday evening, Jim Brannon was notified that he was fired. Brannon, executive director of Habitat for Humanity of North Idaho, was given a letter stating that today would be his last day and that he would be paid through the end of the month. Habitat board chairman Rick Shipman says the decision to eliminate Brannon's job was purely fiscal. Brannon supporter and businessman Jim Doty believes the decision was politically inspired....

In a chapter of his autobiography, the late Senator Ted Kennedy confessed to having slept with over 1,000 women and spending more than $10 million in hush money to keep his womanizing ways a secret. If you crack open the book, however, you won't find a mention of this in there anywhere. That is because horrified family members and advisers cut it out before the book was published. A close source also revealed to the National Enquirer that before he died of brain cancer at age 77 on August 25, Kennedy also revealed that he had planned to seduce Mary...

Ted Kennedy slept with more than a thousand women - and spent at least $10 million in hush money over the years to keep his skirt-chasing a secret! The late senator made those sensational confessions in a chapter of his autobiography, but horrified family members and advisers cut them out. Before he died of brain cancer at age 77 on Aug. 25, the womanizing politician also revealed that he planned to seduce Mary Jo Kopechne on the night she drowned, said a close source. "While dictating his memoirs into a tape recorder, Ted decided to tell the whole truth about...

The authors of the U.S. Constitution intentionally made it open to interpretation so that it could be adapted to meet changing societal issues, Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy said Thursday in Norman. "I think (they) sensed that they were on the edge of world history, but they were cautious and they knew it was difficult to rise above injustices and inequalities of their own time," said Kennedy, who is often viewed as the swing vote on the Supreme Court. Kennedy addressed about 1,500 University of Oklahoma College of Law alumni and students at the centennial celebration for the college at...

VIRGINIA BEACH A Virginia Beach man was charged with DUI after a crash in which his girlfriend was left trapped in waist-deep water, police said. The crash was reported by a citizen at 2:33 a.m. Friday in the 800 or 900 block of Sandbridge Road, said Officer Adam Bernstein, a police department spokesman. Police said Michael Brandon Walck, 23, lost control and crashed into a ditch. His girlfriend told police that he was drinking and ran from the scene, Bernstein said. It took about an hour to remove her from the wreckage, and she was stuck in water to her...