Now Kennedy is Really Dead

thecatholicthing.org ^ | Friday, 22 January 2010 | Austin Ruse

[GonzoII]

COLUMNS

Friday, 22 January 2010
Now Kennedy is Really Dead
By Austin Ruse

What faithful Catholic did not ponder late Tuesday night that the election of Scott Brown to the “Kennedy seat” was God's judgment on Kennedyism. Kennedyism being the proposition that one may defend the sick and the poor in some circumstances but in other circumstances support their deliberate killing.

After all, Brown's election is the precursor to the final deathblow to Kennedy's lifetime project to nationalize health care. And though Brown did not run as a pro-lifer, he ran to kill that monstrous bill, which would have been the largest expansion of baby killing in our post-Roe history.

There are reports that Democrats even lost Hyannis Port, that fabled location in our national mythology. Is it possible that the Kennedy contagion has finally and happily passed?

Teddy Kennedy was one of the most poisonous figures in both our national politics and in our Church. His disgraceful and dishonest performance at the hearings for Robert Bork to the Supreme Court was a watershed in our venomous political discourse (He sheepishly told Bork later, “nothing personal,” as if the judge accepted, as Ted did, that sometimes you just have to tell malicious lies in politics.) What’s more, and worse, Kennedy led the way for Catholic politicians and their followers to support the killing of unborn children and still delude themselves into thinking they remained good Catholics.

A few years ago a senior member of Kennedy’s staff called one of the organizers of the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast who had been quoted in the paper that Kennedy would be welcome to come to the breakfast, but he would never get the microphone. The staff member was stunned that one of America’s most prominent Catholics would be spoken of thus. He even tried to convince the prayer breakfast organizers that Kennedy was really pro-life.

A few months ago the Democratic front group Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good hosted a fundraiser featuring the pro-abortion pol Kathleen Kennedy Townsend and referred to her as coming from the most prominent Catholic family in America.

In some hearts Camelot will never die. Not even losing the “Kennedy seat” will douse the flame of their ardor – dreams of ponies, fine-cut lawns, sailboats, touch football, and pool-parties at Hickory Hill. Hickory Hill is now run down and for sale. Nobody wants it, and for most of us Camelot died roughly at the same time that Mary Jo Kopechne gasped unsuccessfully for one more breath.

And so, we may breathe a sigh of relief. No more will this family darken our national discourse. There were heirs apparent. They say the competition was between Bobby’s son Joe III who had dropped out of Congress and now partners with Venezuelan thug Hugo Chavez to sell heating oil in New England, and Jack’s daughter Caroline who turned out to be not so bright or talented in her quixotic quest to be named U.S. Senator from New York. However, neither of them grabbed for the brass ring.

There are other Kennedys around. Of Ted’s progeny, there is drug-and-drink-troubled Patrick who will likely never rise above his current Congressional seat in Rhode Island. Teddy Jr. seems an impressive young man whose eulogy for his father was a high point in an otherwise troubling funeral Mass, but he expresses no interest in elective office.

Among Bobby’s brood, daughter Kathleen has already run through her political career. Except for his brother who died of an overdose, Bobby Jr. had perhaps the most troubled adolescence, even doing heroin with Lemoyne Billings, one of Jack’s PT-109 buddies. Daughter Kerry published a book about how she remains a Catholic though she disagrees with the teachings of the Church. There are others including Shrivers and Smiths, but I could not name them without Wikipedia.

So what of the fourth generation? The Kennedys are fecund and there are many of them. One of the oddest moments at the Kennedy funeral was when a network commentator gushed about the political future of eleven-year-old Teddy III who, in a televised interview that day, seemed both sweet and precocious. He announced he intended to be US Senator from Massachusetts when he turns forty-five. What is it about this family that some cast their dreams on eleven-year-old boys?

While the Kennedys seem thankfully to be finished in politics, what about Kennedyism? Well, of course, it lives on. Think Biden, Pelosi, Kerry, Durbin, Murray and all the other Catholics who sully our politics and our Church by supporting the right to kill unborn babies. These, too, are Teddy Kennedy’s progeny and while I do not judge his soul I have no doubt he has had to answer for them.

But who knows. Maybe little Teddy III will become a faithful Catholic and a pro-life hero. Perhaps he will be like Eunice and not like Grandpa Ted. Even pro-lifers can have their Camelot fantasies.

 

Austin Ruse is the President of the New York and Washinton, D.C.-based Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute (C-FAM), a research institute that focuses exclusively on international social policy.

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» 23 Comments

23"Ted's Intercession?"
at Friday, 22 January 2010 22:00by Gary

Since Ted Kennedy died, I have prayed for his soul and for his intercession for a true culture of life in our country. I can't help but wonder, in a truly ironic twist, if he may have been helping out with the election of Scott Brown.

22Comment
at Friday, 22 January 2010 22:00by Bridget

Mean spirited? Tone? What about Teddy Kennedy's tone? Patrick Kennedy's? What about the tone and foul aftertaste left in DC with Teddy's departure? The above is the truth about the Kennedys. The truth hurts, but it's never offensive. And why not hold them up to the light, up to the standards of God's laws. Since when is that offensive?

21"Charles"
at Friday, 22 January 2010 21:59by Chris

Marketing abortion as "Choice" is self-decpetion Charles...no one actually believes it...not even you. In the moral sphere, free will implies that some choices are evil. Having free will is a gift from God to his children as a token of his love and respect for us. Exercising free will to choose good is the proper use of the gift, choosing evil is always an abuse of the gift. God's gift is always good - but it is STUPENDOUS DECEPTION to conclude therefore that all uses of the gift are moral.

20"About Brown"
at Friday, 22 January 2010 18:08by Austin Ruse

I met a woman at the Mass for pro-life leaders that the USCCB puts on every year prior to the March for Life. She is from Massachusetts and very involved in prolife efforts. She said, "Brown voted right on every pro-life vote and on every marriage vote." As pro-lifers, let's not write him off just yet!

19"Woe to you!"
at Friday, 22 January 2010 17:00by Jill

Frankly, abortion is so barbaric that I weary of the playing-nice tone some of you have recommended. Babies are being slaughtered! Would you have wanted to take a play nice tone with Hitler or Stalin or Mao? I hope not! Jesus did not mince words with the Pharisees. "Woe to you, Pharisees!" and "You brood of vipers!" Anyone who advocates for the right to kill innocent babies needs to be chastised for what he did and does do, though his eternal destiny is for the judgment of God alone.

18"God's Judgment"
at Friday, 22 January 2010 16:59by Becky Bianco

I am a faithful (and new) Catholic. Despite the poison of the Kennedy 'reign' I don't think any faithful Catholic Christian has permission to suggest that we can identify or understand God's judgment. If we make these presumptions it's a very short leap to also presuming that it was God's judgment that an abortion doctor be murdered. It's our 'job' to recognize evil and work against it; judgment belongs to God, with mercy His trump card.

17"Ted Kennedy"
at Friday, 22 January 2010 16:57by Janis S.

Your article is brilliant, Mr.Ruse. Finally the Kennedy "aura" is exposed. This family thinks they are above the Law and God and anything else that gets in their way. Hopefully Scott Brown will be graced by God to change his Pro Choice view, but he is a breath of fresh air which is so needed. Maybe the prayers of Rose Kennedy will save her wayward children.

16"For Charles"
at Friday, 22 January 2010 16:56by Alfred

Charles, you are right that God is the one who judges, but I am puzzled by the reason you gave in regard to why someone who is pro-coice is not necessarily pro-abortion. In short, you said that it is due to the need to protect free will that one can affirm a women's right to choose, while not being pro-abortion. However, that is like saying: I am not pro-murder but I respect one's right to choose due to free will. So, it is not a question of free will, but whether abortion is murder.

15"The good is oft interred"
at Friday, 22 January 2010 15:58by Joseph

For years, the Liberal-leaning press was kind to Teddy and his familial and political brethren so a good dose of reality is welcome. Mr. Ruse laid it on pretty thick and while Kennedy deserved the posthumous reproach, he nonetheless appeared to have misgivings about his backsliding, having written to the Pope just before his death seeking a blessing.  
 
Perhaps a little cleansing in purgatory will result in Teddy making it to heaven after all. Who can know his last prayers?

14"Thanks Mr. Ruse"
at Friday, 22 January 2010 15:58by Clarence Knutsen

As I watched the returns it occurred to me that even the people of Mass. have had enough of the aura of children-at-play exhibited by the current crop of privileged Kennedys, leading to lack of interest in defending the "Kennedy seat". Mr. Ruse outlines, factually, the poisonous atmosphere in which they developed, thanks to "Uncle Teddy." I would suggest to those who didn't like the tone of Mr. Ruse's article to answer his facts before getting so moraly indignant. RIP Ted -- and I mean that.

13"Brown is Pro-Choice"
at Friday, 22 January 2010 15:57by Jack

That Brown "did not run as pro-life" is an understatement. He didn't run as pro-life because he is not. Your vitriol at the Kennedys seems far more personal and petty than principled disagreement over abortion (thus the unnecessary references to drug and alcohol addictions). Otherwise you would be directing this same anger towards Brown.

12"God will judge"
at Friday, 22 January 2010 13:52by Ars Artium

The evil that was done in any life will be judged by God. Only He has all knowledge. While we must and should act prudently and while we must do all that we can to protect the innocent, there is a way to do so in a dignified, Christian manner. This essy has a mean spirited tone that in my opinion fails utterly to accomplish its goal. In the spirit of "Deus Caritas Est", I protest.

11"The Brown issue"
at Friday, 22 January 2010 13:51by Jennifer

I'm puzzled by how many pro-life people are rejoicing about Scott Brown's election. He's pro-choice. He will do nothing to forward our cause. I think showing joy at his election just because he will stop health care reform is a mistake, as it undermines our important work of changing the current law.

10"A little harsh"
at Friday, 22 January 2010 13:51by KC Hawk

I agree with many of the prior posters that the overall point of the article is correct, however, the tone is off-putting. The personal attacks on the Kennedy clans weaknesses are not necessary to make the point. Mr. Ruse is an outstanding writer and I usually admire his columns. This seems more like something I would see in the comments section than the main article.  
 
Ahh, free will, the catechism and abortion. It is important to note that an uninformed act of free will endangers a soul.

9"Divine Justice"
at Friday, 22 January 2010 12:30by William H. Phelan

Sen. Edward Kennedy had a 100% favorable voting record with NARAL (the National Abortion Rights Action League), he supported same-sex marriage, and he left a young woman with whom he was trysting, in a submerged car to drown. He admitted that the only Catholic in his family was his mother, Rose. Christ said: I was there when Satan was thrust out of heaven as lightning from the sky.  
Fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom. Wake up, readers!

8"Cafeteria Catholics"
at Friday, 22 January 2010 11:06by Willie

Austin: A good article that does not pull any punches. Let's keep in mind, however, that some of the clerics in the Catholic Church gave Kennedy and his ilk a handle to grab by postulating a " seamless garment." In other words there are other things evil besides abortion, things that the Kennedys tried to fix. There is a strong pro-choice faction in our Holy Church. A monstrous health care bill has been rendered impotent, but a increased vocalization on Church teaching by our clergy is needed.

7"The Sin of Detraction"
at Friday, 22 January 2010 10:52by Ars Artium

This unnecessarily harsh, even vindictive, article actually shocked me this morning. Persuading readers of the truth certainly does not require this type of expose. It seems to fit the definition of the sin of detraction. I hope to see a retraction.

6"to charles"
at Friday, 22 January 2010 10:38by debby

how many post abortive women do you personally know? how many are PROUD of their abortions & would CHOOSE abortion all over again? how many felt FORCED into their CHOICE? where is your Catholic love for your neighbor in your response? the Kennedys-et al, have been aggressive in pushing the Choice rhetoric Kool-Aid on the public for their own gain. you sir, have swallowed gallons. 
Yes, God will judge us all. AND He told us: You will know a tree by its fruit. this is not a hard thing to disce

5"thank you Mr. Ruse"
at Friday, 22 January 2010 10:13by Truth seeker

I always look forward to your article because you do not pull away from naming abortion for what it is--the killing of the child in the womb. Until we all do this all the time, the ridiculous notion that I am free to murder as i want will not go away and the barbarism will continue.

4"Agree with the point, BUT"
at Friday, 22 January 2010 10:13by SD

Mr. Ruse, I greatly admire your work and I agree here with your overarching point about the scandal caused by the Kennedys. However, I'm troubled by some of the more vitriolic comments. I hope that you will either consider revising it some or that the editors will remove it altogether. It really has no business being posted by a site which calls itself The Catholic Thing.

3"thank you"
at Friday, 22 January 2010 08:57by Gini

Thank you or finally spelling out the truth on the Kennedy clan. So much poor influence on all the population. Now to undo the harm they caused! But we can and will do the necessary repair work! I appreciate your article.

2"The World, the Flesh, etc"
at Friday, 22 January 2010 08:56by William H. Phelan

Thank you for an excellent article, Mr. Ruse. In the 1930s and 40s, I am told, Catholics were warned of the World, the Flesh and the Devil., as they could lead one to damnation. Bp. Tobin said as much in his warning to Patrick Kennedy, to whit, if your job endangers your soul, leave the job! The Kennedys tried to walk the fine line and, as a moth to a flame, they were drawn in to their own destruction, taking others with them.

1"Error"
at Friday, 22 January 2010 08:55by Charles Cavender

Kennedys did not support abortion. They supported the right of a woman to choose. The concept of free will is an integral part of the catechism I was taught. I wish the right to life obsessed among us would spend more time attmepting to persuade young women as to the correct path and less time indulging in fear-mongering and vitriol. It is for God to judge the Kennedys, and I dare say most of them have records of public service which would put most of their critics to shame.

 

[free1977free]

Renaissance fresco in San Petronio Basilica, depicting Mohammed being tortured in Hell. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Petronio_Basilica

[Wpin]

Now Kennedy is a GOOD democrat

[hinckley buzzard]

Provincetown went for Coakley bigtime

Provincetown used to be Sodom City, Sanfransicko East. I assume it hasn't changed much.

[hinckley buzzard]

Chinese have a saying: (fu bu guo san dai) Literally: Wealth does not pass three generations

Interesting. Growing up I heard the American saying: "Shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations." Must be something to it. The derelict status of Hickory Hill certainly speaks to the desuetude of the latterday kennedys.

[Mrs. Don-o]

Oh, that guy at the upper right? I need better powers of observation, or a bigger picture!

Odd thought: in Catholic religious art, saints are usually identified by some symbol (a lamb for Agnes, a dog with a torch for Dominic, the keys for Peter, etc.) Is there a symbol here which shows that it's Mo himself in hell? Just curious.

[missnry]

But remember Matthew 7:1-5 as well

You are correct. The mantra of the left is and always has been "JUDGE NOT, LEST YE BE JUDGED." In other words, "shut up," you have no right to tell me what I can or cannot do.
The responsibility of those in the church is to "judge" other members of the body with the heart of God. If someone does "fall" our responsibility is to attempt to restore that individual not to destroy them. The individual could have been misled into their life of sin. However, if in that restoration attempt they tell you to go to hell, you have no other recourse but to throw them out of the church body.

[Slyfox]

In some hearts Camelot will never die.

My grandfather died in 1973 and was the only Republican within his own family and within his own circle of friends. He really disliked Old Joe Kennedy and his entire clan.

Every-time a Kennedy died my Grandpa famously said, "Thank God, the sonof@b!+ch is dead."

His family and friends eventually woke up and became Reagan democrats.

I have to admit, when Old Ted came down with his cancer I didn't feel a thing, no sadness. Nothing. I just thought of Mary Jo and all those babies he condemned to death with his vote.

So, when Ted Kennedy died, I raised my glass to Grandpa and said,"Thank God, the sonof@b!+ch is dead."

[GonzoII]

"For whatever reason the Catholic church cannot grasp this text in their biblical reading."

The Catholic Church does, some members don't:

Commentary from Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary, 1859 edition for 1 Cor 5: 1-13:

CHAPTER V.

Ver. 1. As the like is not among the heathens. This seems to have been the crime of incest, that he took the wife of his father yet living. See 2 Corinthians vii. 12. (Witham) --- St. Chrysostom, Theod.[Theodoret?], &c., think, that this incestuous person was one of the chiefs of the schism which then reigned in Corinth. This man, say they, was a great orator, with whose eloquence the Corinthians were enchanted, and therefore dissembled a knowledge of his crime, public as it was. The apostle having proved to them the vanity of all human learning, in the preceding chapter, now attacks the incestuous man, and exposes to their view the enormity of his crime. (Calmet)

Ver. 2. You are puffed up, seem to be unconcerned, to take pride in it, instead of having the man separated from you. (Witham)

Ver. 3. &c. Have already judged, decreed, and do decree, being present in spirit with you, and with your congregation. --- In the name....with the power of our Lord Jesus, to deliver such a one to Satan by a sentence of excommunication, depriving him of the sacraments, the prayers, and communion, and even of the conversation of the rest of the faithful. It is likely in those times, such excommunicated persons were delivered over to Satan, so as to be corporally tormented by the devil. But most divines are of opinion that this man was delivered over to the devil, to strike a terror into others. See St. Chrysostom, hom. xv. and this is said to be done for the destruction, or punishment of the flesh, that the spirit, or soul, may be saved. (Witham) --- It is the opinion of most of the Greek fathers, that this man was either really possessed by the devil, or at least struck with such a complaint as a mortification, and humiliation to his body, whilst it served to purify his soul. We have seen from many instances in holy Scripture, that it was not unusual, in the origin of Christianity, for persons who had fallen into crimes of this nature, to be punished with death, some grievous sickness, or by being possessed by the devil. But most divines are of opinion that this man was delivered over to the devil, so as to be separated from the communion of the Church. (St. Ambrose; Estius; Just.[St. Justin Martyr?]; Menochius)

Ver. 6-8. Your glorying is not good, when you suffer such a scandal among you: you have little reason to boast of your masters, or even of the gifts and graces you received. A little leaven corrupteth the whole mass; a public scandal, when not punished, is of dangerous consequence. --- Purge out the old leaven. He alludes to the precept given to the Jews of having no leaven in their houses during the seven days of the Paschal feast. For our Pasch, i.e. Paschal lamb, Christ is sacrificed: and Christians, says St. Chrysostom, must keep this feast continually, by always abstaining from the leaven of sin. (Witham)

Ver. 9. &c. I wrote to you in an epistle. If he does not mean what he has said already in this epistle, it must have been in some other, which he had written to them before, (as some conjecture) and which is not now extant. --- Now to keep company with fornicators, nor with such like public scandalous sinners, not so much as to eat with them. But you must take notice, that I mean, when they are brethren, or Christians, not when they are infidels, for this cannot be avoided, especially by those who are to labour to convert them. This admonition of the apostle, shews us how much such persons are to blame, who by their carriage encourage, applaud, and are delighted with wicked company. Them who are without the pale and fold of the Church, the apostle leaves to the great judge of the living and the dead. (Witham)

Ver. 12. To judge them that are without. Those who are said by the apostle to be without, are those who have never been converted to the faith, and therefore are not within the jurisdiction of the Church.

Ver. 13. Take away. This passage is differently understood by commentators. By some it is understood thus: expel the evil one from among you, that is, the incestuous man. (Estius) --- By others, it is understood to be spoken in a general sense, meaning, take away the evil of sin from among you. (Calmet)

[missnry]

The Catholic Church does, some members don't:

I know there are "some" in the church that take these scriptures seriously but as a whole the Catholic church, or Protestant church for that matter, does not. My guess is that it "costs" the church in finances for them to enforce the "morality" of the scriptures.

Here is an article on what Archbishop Burke thought about the matter:

WASHINGTON, D.C., September 21, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In an address to InsideCatholic.com's 14th Annual Partnership Dinner Friday evening, Archbishop Raymond Burke, Prefect of the Vatican's Apostolic Signatura, said that funeral rites should not be given to pro-abortion Catholic politicians. He also defended the duty of Catholics to speak in charity against the scandal caused by such figures.

The archbishop said that, while "we must speak the truth in charity," Catholics also "should have the courage to look truth in the eye and call things by their common names."

"It is not possible to be a practicing Catholic and to conduct oneself in this manner," he told the crowd of about 200 guests.

Burke hammered home his message of the need for fidelity to Church teaching on the part of Catholics in politics in his 50-minute speech. The archbishop, known for his unwavering and vocal defense of the Church's teachings on life and family issues, was given a standing ovation at the conclusion of his address.

In what appeared to be a reference to the Kennedy funeral scandal, Burke said that "neither Holy Communion nor funeral rites should be administered to" politicians who support abortion or same-sex "marriage." "To deny these is not a judgment of the soul, but a recognition of the scandal and its effects," he said.

Burke said that when a politician is associated "with greatly sinful acts about fundamental questions like abortion and marriage, his repentance must also be public."

"Anyone who grasps the gravity of what he has done will understand the need to make it public," said Burke.

Sen. Ted Kennedy, a staunch abortion and same-sex "marriage" supporter, was laid to rest in a highly publicized and laudatory Catholic funeral ceremony in Boston on August 29. Catholic pro-life leaders had pleaded with Cardinal Sean O'Malley not to allow the public ceremony, but the cardinal ultimately presided over the rites. In turn, other leaders in the Catholic community, most notably Fr. Thomas Rosica, the CEO of Canada's Salt & Light television network, lambasted the pro-life response to the funeral as uncharitable.

About the pro-life leaders and activists who expressed concern about Kennedy's funeral, Rosica wrote on his blog, "many so-called lovers of life and activists in the pro-life movement, as well as well-known colleagues in Catholic television broadcasting and media in North America, have revealed themselves to be not agents of life, but of division, destruction, hatred, vitriol, judgment and violence."

Burke, however, defended those who spoke out against such scandal, pointing out that unity within the Church is ultimately based upon the truth.

"The Church's unity is founded on speaking the truth in love," he said. "This does not destroy unity but helps to repair a breach in the life of the Church."

[Woebama]

The mantra of the left is and always has been “JUDGE NOT, LEST YE BE JUDGED.” In other words, “shut up,” you have no right to tell me what I can or cannot do.
__________________________________________

It is in the Bible. It’s not the province of the left or the right. It is absolute truth from the mouth of Christ and should be considered as well as the verses you are quoting; they should be put into context through it and Matthew 7 should be considered in light of the verses you are quoting.

[Woebama]

American saying: “Shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations.”
_______________________________________________________

That’s an awesome saying. Purely descriptive, observed, and directed at a real individual or family. I can see a farmer or rancher saying it and moving on with their business.

[missnry]

It is in the Bible. It’s not the province of the left or the right.

Please don't misunderstand. The only point I was making is that of the left "proof texting" the scriptures. By this they can take any one scripture and form their own doctrine. The people who do not want to be held to any "moral standard" throw that scripture out all the time.

[Woebama]

No I get you. I think it’s somehow 2 things. One is membership in a church, whether you support the person as a leader, those sorts of things, the other is judgment in terms of feeling superior to them or thinking they are damned or worthless and those sorts of judgments, which is up to God. That’s my take on it now. Sort of what’s in the heart.

[Mamzelle]

And good riddance.

After a lifetime of having that rapacious, immoral, grandiose warren full of verminous buck-toothed whelps thrust into my face every day, they're gone. All that cooing and fawning over low-down, thieving drankard, murdering peasants. Every day in the news, since my childhood, the cretinous knaves in the media have insisted that they are some aristocrat/saints.

As of Tuesday, they are gone. They are down and out. Camelot is cast down with Sodom and Gomorrah.

[the invisib1e hand]

Now Kennedy is Really Dead

Alas, the work is not done.

[silverleaf]

For the first time in my adult life, I’m proud of the people of Massachusetts ;-)