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I remember seeing the assassination Bobby Kenedy soon after he entered the kitchen of the Ambassador Hotel in June of 1968 – pop, pop you could hear the sound. The next day, that was all was. Once could almost say that was the first salvo of the terrorist war we are now fighting coming from the gun of Sirhan Bishara Sirhan, who born in Jerusalem to a Palestinian Christian family but who shot Robert Kennedy for “Arab nationalism” and who was angry over Kennedy’s support for Israel in the June 1967 Six-Day War. And I remember, even I, considered, looked to Ted Kennedy. Could he replace a Bobby?

Of course, you cannot compare the two. Now Ted Kennedy is dead.

When I first heard, I remembered back to that time in 1968. And then I remembered sitting in an Italian restaurant, all of us were watching Ted Kennedy – it must have been the 1980 Democratic National Convention in New York. I think he was congratulating President Carter. If I recall he was announcing his own campaign had come to an end.

So I decided to go find that speech, and I did.

Here are some outtakes from that speech:

Quote:

“Let us pledge that we will never misuse unemployment, high interest rates, and human misery as false weapons against inflation.”

“We must not permit the Republicans to seize and run on the slogans of prosperity.”

“The 1980 Republican convention was awash with crocodile tears for our economic distress, but it is by their long record and not their recent words that you shall know them.”

“The same Republicans who are talking about the problems of the inner cities have nominated a man who said, and I quote, "I have included in my morning and evening prayers every day the prayer that the Federal Government not bail out New York." And that nominee is no friend of this city and our great urban centers across this nation.”

“The same Republicans who are talking about security for the elderly have nominated a man who said just four years ago that "Participation in social security should be made voluntary." And that nominee is no friend of the senior citizens of this nation.”

“The demand of our people in 1980 is not for smaller government or bigger government but for better government. Some say that government is always bad and that spending for basic social programs is the root of our economic evils. But we reply: The present inflation and recession cost our economy 200 billion dollars a year. We reply: Inflation and unemployment are the biggest spenders of all.”

“The tax cut of our Republican opponents takes the name of tax reform in vain. It is a wonderfully Republican idea that would redistribute income in the wrong direction. It's good news for any of you with incomes over 200,000 dollars a year. For the few of you, it offers a pot of gold worth 14,000 dollars. But the Republican tax cut is bad news for the middle income families. For the many of you, they plan a pittance of 200 dollars a year, and that is not what the Democratic Party means when we say tax reform.”

“The President, the Vice President, the members of Congress have a medical plan that meets their needs in full, and whenever senators and representatives catch a little cold, the Capitol physician will see them immediately, treat them promptly, fill a prescription on the spot. We do not get a bill even if we ask for it, and when do you think was the last time a member of Congress asked for a bill from the Federal Government? And I say again, as I have before, if health insurance is good enough for the President, the Vice President, the Congress of the United States, then it's good enough for you and every family in America.”

“And may it be said of us, both in dark passages and in bright days, in the words of Tennyson that my brothers quoted and loved, and that have special meaning for me now: "I am a part of all that I have met To [Tho] much is taken, much abides That which we are, we are -- One equal temper of heroic hearts Strong in will To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield." For me, a few hours ago, this campaign came to an end.”

…. Well, now he’s passed. And I also remember a bridge, and a car, and a girl.

I guess they will probably try to name the “Health Care Bill” after him. I wonder if that plan is going to be the same plan where “whenever senators and representatives catch a little cold, the Capitol physician will see them immediately” … I guess the Congress and the President will all be on the same plan as everybody else. I am a part of all that I have met. I actually met Ted Kennedy once, in D.C., he was walking down the sidewalk, no security. I already told that story once, and being now that he passed, I won’t tell it again. Humor has a time and place.