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A Friendship Killer - Ted Kennedy's outburst should end all Bush collaboration with him.
National Review ^ | 09/23/03 | Delroy Murdock

Posted on 09/23/2003 6:49:11 AM PDT by bedolido

“This whole thing was a fraud," Senator Ted Kennedy (D., Mass.) complained Thursday to the Associated Press. "There was no imminent threat," his jeremiad against President Bush's Iraq policy continued. "This was made up in Texas, announced in January to the Republican leadership that war was going to take place and was going to be good politically."

As if accusing the president of the United States of sending GIs into combat for electoral gain were not outrageous enough, Kennedy added that Bush misallocated funds.

"My belief is this money is being shuffled all around to these political leaders in all parts of the world, bribing them to send in troops," Kennedy continued.

As intemperate as Kennedy's outburst was, perhaps it finally will end President Bush's warm relationship with the senior senator from Hyannis Port. Bush's esteem for Kennedy has epitomized the "New Tone in Washington" whereby Republicans extend their hands in friendship to Democrats who, in turn, bite off their fingers.

Bush and the GOP could not have been more accommodating to the 71-year-old archliberal.

In November 2001, Bush issued an executive order renaming the Justice Department's headquarters after the late Robert F. Kennedy, LBJ's attorney general and Ted's older brother. Bush invited Ted and other members of the Kennedy clan to the White House for a private screening of Thirteen Days, a major motion picture about the performance of Ted's other brother, JFK, during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. Far more substantively, Bush and his Senate Republican allies approved an education bill largely to Kennedy's liking. Not surprisingly, it swelled federal classroom spending by $26 billion, hiked Washington's education outlays in its first year by 16 percent and excluded vouchers and other competitive reforms that Bush's supporters in the school choice movement were frustrated not to see. Bush basted Kennedy with kindness after this bill passed. He called him "a fabulous United States senator." Kennedy last summer had a fairly free hand in crafting the Senate's Medicare prescription drug bill. This beast, caged for the moment in a House-Senate conference committee, is budgeted conservatively at $400 billion in its first 10 years alone. With no objection from Bush, Senate Republicans caved as Kennedy demanded this legislation lack reform ideas including a modest affluence test sponsored by Dianne Feinstein (D., Calif.) and Don Nickles (R., Okla.). Kennedy threatened to filibuster against their amendment to make wealthy seniors like Ross Perot and David Rockefeller pay more for their coverage. So, Republicans quietly killed Feinstein's and Nickles's token of common sense and instead adopted a brand-new, universal entitlement. They defeated the Feinstein-Nichols language by voice vote on June 26. So, Kennedy and others who opposed this hint of prudence need not worry about taxpayers ever finding a record of their profligacy.

All of this solicitousness to Kennedy by Bush and his fellow Republicans might be worthwhile if the powerful Democrat occasionally supported and helped line up other Democrats behind Bush's proposals. But beyond pushing legislation far left, knowing Bush will sign it anyway, Kennedy is one of Bush's most consistent and energetic congressional foes. Kennedy joined 22 other senators in voting against letting Bush use military force in Iraq. This put Kennedy at odds even with his fellow Massachusetts Democrat, Senator John Kerry. Kennedy opposed Bush's tax relief plan and voted to delay those tax cuts until the administration defined the costs of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Kennedy is one of the leaders of the Democrat filibuster against a growing number of Bush's judicial nominees. Miguel Estrada — exhausted after two years of being tormented by Democrats, under-defended by Republicans and prevented from speaking publicly by the administration — pulled his own nomination on September 4. Rather than celebrate this ugly win quietly to himself, Kennedy appeared at a press conference with Senator Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) to gloat over Estrada's scalp. Kennedy called Estrada's withdrawal "a victory for the Constitution." Kennedy recently announced that he would filibuster against a $10 million plan to give educational vouchers to children struggling within Washington, D.C.'s staggeringly-poor government schools. President Bush is eager to sign this bill, which passed the House this month. Unimpressed, Kennedy vows to raise hell against this legislation. Although he sent his kids to private school, the otherwise bleeding-heart Kennedy feels nothing for poor black boys and girls relegated to lifetimes of ignorance by schools that deny them the basic skills necessary for successful adulthood in the capitol of the free world. Kennedy prefers to leave no teacher's union boss behind.

Last week's anti-Bush tantrum is more than enough reason to table the president's and the GOP's tender feelings for Kennedy. This always has been a one-way affair in which respect, affection and legislative deference have flowed like honey from Bush and Republican senators towards Kennedy. In return, Kennedy has extracted everything he can from the White House and his GOP colleagues — engorging bills with tax dollars and red tape — then squirted vinegar in their eyes on issue after issue.

Watching Bush serenade Kennedy confuses and demoralizes the Republican base while costing the Treasury billions of dollars in GOP love offerings. The Bay State senator's recent tirade gives the president the perfect opportunity to tell Ted Kennedy firmly: "I think it's time for you to go."


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; Government; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: bush; deroymurdock; friendship; kennedy; outburst; ted; tedkennedy
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To: bedolido
Whatever happened to that little guy? Wasn't his name Daschle or something? Here's what's going on, Daschle knows that his criticism of Bush was costing him bigtime back home and he shup up in time for the people back home to forget. Somebody needs to appease the hardcore whacko leftists in the Dem base. Somebody untouchable, somebody with no fear of not being reelected. Somebody named Ted Kennedy.
21 posted on 09/23/2003 10:54:54 AM PDT by Tailback
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To: bedolido
Well, I'm hoping that there is some background strategery going on here, and the Pres will soon pull the rug out from under this blowhard drunkard.
22 posted on 09/23/2003 11:08:21 AM PDT by Rummyfan
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To: Rummyfan; Cicero; ought-six; river rat; bedolido; Tailback; Tacis; ohioWfan; Wphile; JohnHuang2; ...
I just got off the phone with Kennedy's staffer who told me that they are getting calls (2 to 1) supporting his remarks.

FREEPERS....CALL FREE NOW:

1-800-648-3516

I didn't say I was a Dem (of course I'm not) but I said that he was 'hurting the Democrats' and should take a lesson from Congressman Marshall of GA who said that all the negative reporting on the War in iraq is endangering our brave troops!

I told him that I am not a 'confused' American...I know why we are in Iraq & that it requires sacrifices.....that I remember his brother's statement about 'Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country.' I said he needs to support the President in the effort to protect Americans from terror!

PLEASE CALL KENNEDY!


23 posted on 09/23/2003 1:31:04 PM PDT by JulieRNR21 (Take W-04....Across America!)
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To: JulieRNR21
"I just got off the phone with Kennedy's staffer who told me that they are getting calls (2 to 1) supporting his remarks. "

A VERY, VERY LOUD- GUFFAW!!! Would you really expect a dem and a Kennedy, to boot, to tell you the truth? And, in that whole office, it is probably the booze talking. You could have half a million calls to tell a dem that the President was right and they were traitors and they'd still tell you treason.

Never, never forget the lines of dem lying weasels outside the Congress swearing that Willie was telling the truth. They are lying scum bag weasels and very few words they ever speak are true.

24 posted on 09/23/2003 2:16:34 PM PDT by Tacis
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To: Tacis
"I just got off the phone with Kennedy's staffer who told me that they are getting calls (2 to 1) supporting his remarks. "

A VERY, VERY LOUD- GUFFAW!!! Would you really expect a dem and a Kennedy, to boot, to tell you the truth? And, in that whole office, it is probably the booze talking. You could have half a million calls to tell a dem that the President was right and they were traitors and they'd still tell you treason

You are exactly right....however...it is extremely pleasurable to rant at a Kennedy staffer that 'the Senator is hurting the Dem party, our country and endangering our brave troops while we are at war on terrorism!'

Try it...you might enjoy it too!

25 posted on 09/23/2003 2:29:36 PM PDT by JulieRNR21 (Take W-04....Across America!)
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To: LTCJ
Rove should have gone long ago

Rove, Andrew Card and the rest of the WH gang will be gone in 2004. They will not focus job loss nor do anything about it.

26 posted on 09/23/2003 2:35:36 PM PDT by Swanks
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To: Swanks
Dream on........
27 posted on 09/23/2003 6:01:45 PM PDT by ohioWfan (Have you prayed for your President today?)
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To: bedolido

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

28 posted on 09/23/2003 6:18:31 PM PDT by van_erwin
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To: bedolido
The bloated living blurb "teddybare" ;the joke that never goes away is trying to be relevant and is succeeding like the U.N. The red faced jowl jigling patriarch needs to finally get soundly defeated next election. Only in America can a murderer become a icon and still walk the streets a free man.

This idiot is the main reason people say why bother to vote anymore. This rotten excuse of a person has lived the life of luxury enjoying the accolades of too numerous silly groupies who wanted to live the Camelot Dream. Those who are so enamored with this kennedy klan are wilfully blind to what it represents to America. Just like the Bush's they want to be America's Sweethearts when in fact they are just a bunch of fertile oversexed bozos and bimbos! As you can tell they are not my poster family for success in exemplary living. They are an embarassment to this Country and we are going to be forced to deal with them for a long long time given the way they are breeding up there much like a swarm of flies!

29 posted on 09/23/2003 6:34:06 PM PDT by winker
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