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A few days ago I read that someone (John Kerry?) was going to do a memorial to his old buddy, Ted Kennedy. At first I was outraged -- spend money on a drunken, old Senator. Then I thought -- it might not be so bad -- as long as the memorial is appropriate. This is my idea: A giant fountain with a 1967 Olds 98 upside down in the middle of it with a statue of him sitting on the edge watching it fill up with water. That I could go for.

But groundbreaking in spring The founding president of the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the U.S. Senate yesterday said he is giving up on seeking federal funds for the legacy project, $30 million short of the total the institute has requested from Congress. “We had this request in and we felt that either we get it this year or we don’t, and we’re not going to go back,” said Peter Meade, president of the institute. “I doubt we’re going back to ask for any more. The institute, a $150 million project to honor the liberal lion, already has nabbed $38...

Link only.....boston.com is on the list. http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2010/12/kennedys_respon.html?rss_id=Top+Stories

There are consequences when we forgive the depraved. America has duly performed its solemn rituals to mark the passing of Ted Kennedy -- the pompous displays, the airy speeches, the pseudo-dignified deference to the dead. What we ought to reflect upon, with equal solemnity, is what America's legitimization and ultimate acceptance of such a man portends for ourselves. The tale of Chappaquiddick has, of course, been told and retold. But what Ted Kennedy did to Mary Jo Kopechne that summer night in 1969 is so depraved that the story bears repetition. Put aside the debauchery of the party Kennedy attended...

Experts say that in addition to protections for free speech, there are difficulties with proving leaked documents are classified, under a US government executive order which sets limits on documents that can be properly termed as classified documents. However, if charges are made against Julian Assange under the law in the US, then he would face extradition under the controversial UK-US extradition treaty, which provides special measures for extraditions between the two countries.

How evil was Ted Kennedy? Shocking new details have emerged, now that the man himself is dead. While many conservatives realized that Ted Kennedy's was a morally compromised man (his record of walking away from Mary Jo Kopechne as she suffocated in an air bubble inside his Oldsmobile clinched the case), America's major media studiously ignored the incident, and many others, in order to preserve the luster of the Kennedy name, and to aid him in his role as the liberal "lion of the Senate." Now, the son the then-owner of the National Enquirer has provided information which, if true,...

HARRY REID: "I’m glad I had the opportunity to know Ted Kennedy. Whether you agreed with him or not, what a life he lead with his two brothers being assassinated, his other brother being killed in World War II. And Robert Byrd who just died. What a– he was in the Congress of the United States for more than 25 percent of the time that we have been a country. That’s fairly remarkable."

Mika Brzezinski is no poker face, regularly letting her feelings show as she reacts to the stories of the day. But when it comes to emoting, the Morning Joe co-host outdid herself today, reacting to the criticism the panel leveled at Jimmy Carter for his ungracious bashing of the late Ted Kennedy. In a 60 Minutes interview with Lesley Stahl, a clip from which Morning Joe aired, an embittered Carter flatly says the failure to get national health care during his administration was Ted Kennedy's "fault." Carter accused Kennedy of "deliberately blocking" Carter's proposed legislation, in order to deny him...

This is one story that U.S. News & World Report's Washington Whispers might want to keep to a low whisper or risk even more ridicule than what they are already receiving. Paul Bedard, writing in Washington Whispers, quotes Kennedy's biographer and former girlfriend who claim that Ted was really an innocent victim of the Chappaquiddick accident. Here is Kennedy biographer Burton Hersh making the case for Kennedy as merely a lousy driver: Now, a year after Kennedy died, his lifelong biographer Burton Hersh, armed with fresh interviews with Kennedy's mistress at the time, tells Whispers that the whole July 1969...

For many, the name Chappaquiddick conjures images of a drunken Sen. Edward Kennedy hitting on Mary Jo Kopechne in his Oldsmobile, losing control, and plunging into the water of Poucha Pond on Chappaquiddick Island, adjacent to Martha's Vineyard where President Obama was vacationing. Kopechne, a family friend, drowned; and Teddy fumbled for excuses about what happened. Now, a year after Kennedy died, his lifelong biographer Burton Hersh, armed with fresh interviews with Kennedy's mistress at the time, tells Whispers that the whole July 1969 episode should have been handled as a simple crash, leaving the senator's legacy untainted. "It was...

Kennedy clan members are coldly attempting to drive out TED KENNEDY's widow VICKI from the family compound in which she lives, sources say. According to the will of her late husband - who died at age 77 of brain cancer in August 2009 - Vicki can live in Ted's rambling seaside home in Hyannis, Mass., for the rest of her life, sources say. "Ted's wish was that the house - which was originally the home of his parents Joe Sr. and Rose - would eventually become a museum when Vicki no longer lived there," said a family source. "The family...

J.D. Hayworth’s latest television ad links Arizona Sen. John McCain, his GOP Senate primary opponent, with President Barack Obama and the late Sen. Ted Kennedy as proponents of "amnesty" for undocumented immigrants. The ad, which comes amid intense controversy over Arizona's immigration bill, hits McCain for his 2006 attempt to push bipartisan immigration reform through the Senate. It starts airing Friday. The ad opens with a shot of McCain proudly declaring “I helped author with Sen. Kennedy comprehensive immigration reform and fought for it twice” and quickly follows with a clip of Obama stating that he “stood with Ted Kennedy...

NEW YORK (AP) -- An upcoming New York City auction will feature the belongings of movie cowboy Roy Rogers - including the preserved remains of his famous horse, Trigger. Christie's in Manhattan held a preview Friday for next week's auction. The items are from the now-closed Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Museum in Branson, Mo.

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy’s self-serving, secret correspondence with Soviet agents during the height of the Cold War included proposals for collaborative efforts designed to undermine official U.S. policy set by Democratic and Republican administrations, KGB documents show.With the media now reporting on the late senator’s just released Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) file, now is an opportune time for a more expansive investigation into Kennedy’s KGB contacts. The agency took a keen interest in a 1961 “fact-finding” trip the Massachusetts Democrat took to Mexico and other parts of Latin America where he may have had contact with communist agents, according...

Senator Robert C. Byrd (D-WV) died early this morning at Inova Hospital in Fairfax, Va. Upon arriving in Hell, he was immediately appointed KKK Grand Dragon. Byrd was greeted at the gates of Hell by long-time friend Ted Kennedy, who made an unsuccessful bid for president of Hell last year shortly after his own arrival.

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy's self-serving, secret correspondence with Soviet agents during the height of the Cold War included proposals for collaborative efforts designed to undermine official U.S. policy set by Democratic and Republican administrations, KGB documents show. With the media now reporting on the late senator's just released Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) file, now is an opportune time for a more expansive investigation into Kennedy's KGB contacts. The agency took a keen interest in a 1961 "fact-finding" trip the Massachusetts Democrat took to Mexico and other parts of Latin America where he may have had contact with communist agents,...

When President Ronald Reagan nominated Judge Robert Bork for the U.S. Supreme Court, one of the most offensive and dishonest assaults against a man by the U.S. Government was launched, and Ted Kennedy hurled the first and immediate lethal blows. Kennedy's successful telling of lies about Judge Bork from the floor of the U.S. Senate was wildly successful, and it was one of the most shameful days in the history of American government. Elena Kagan, Obama's Supreme Court Nominee, is on the record saying she "loved" borking Bork.

Ted Kennedy's KGB Correspondence By Kevin Mooney on 6.22.10 @ 6:08AM Sen. Edward M. Kennedy's self-serving, secret correspondence with Soviet agents during the height of the Cold War included proposals for collaborative efforts designed to undermine official U.S. policy set by Democratic and Republican administrations, KGB documents show. With the media now reporting on the late senator's just released Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) file, now is an opportune time for a more expansive investigation into Kennedy's KGB contacts. The agency took a keen interest in a 1961 "fact-finding" trip the Massachusetts Democrat took to Mexico and other parts of...

"It's no surprise that [Republican Carly] Fiorina is attacking me," Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., wrote in a recent fundraising pitch, "because she's so out of touch with California voters. ... She supports allowing people on the no-fly terrorist watch list to buy guns."This is a line I've seen and heard repeatedly in the last month, and one that I expect to hear from many Democratic candidates this fall. At issue in the debate, and in recently proposed legislation: Should the government restrict the gun rights of people whose names appear on a secret list kept by the government?The Government Accountability...

Previously secret FBI records released today reveal that Sen. Edward Kennedy may have participated in steamy sex parties with his two brothers, Marilyn Monroe and "Rat Pack" crooners Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. A racy memo from 1965 notes that a New York woman reportedly had "considerable information about sex parties" involving the Kennedy brothers John and Robert, Monroe, Sinatra and Davis. While the source of the information is not described fully in the documents, "it was reported" that Jacqueline Hammond, the wealthy ex-wife of a former US ambassador to Spain, knew about the raunchy parties at the upscale...