Class Acts

The Paul Wellstone funeral all over again?

From the Times of London: Democrats accused of using Edward Kennedy’s death to promote reforms
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They probably will, but the national media will work to rehab Kennedy's character. Time Magazine recently remembered his marriage to Vicki Reggie: "he was a hard-partying politician whose indiscretions and appetites had become a national joke." They barely remember that Kennedy was chastised by the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard for his unseemly behavior after which he quickly married the divorcee 20 years his junior. But not before a spectacular rape trial.

Speculation in political circles is that the funeral/memorial service might follow Paul Wellstone's Memorial. The 2002 Paul Wellstone memorial was so politicized that then-Governor Jesse Ventura (see Aftermath at the Wikipedia entry) was so disgusted that he declared that he would solicit résumés for the senatorial position from everyone except Democrats.

Ventura's choice is now a bus driver, so go figure.

No less than Time magazine openly wondered if the Memorial Service cost Democrats the election. A private poll by a Clinton pollster seemed to suggest the service backfired nationally.

At the service at the University of Minnesota, the crowds booed Republican Minority Leader Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss) and speakers urged the attendees to vote in upcoming elections. William Saletan in Slate, described it as a pep rally. Where "the crowd repeatedly stands, stomps, and whoops." He thought about the liberal cliches, that "there's a creepy arrogance about them, too."

Mark Steyn at the time wrote about the memorial. "Mark Wellstone, the Senator's son, bellowing into the microphone "We will win! We will win! We will win!" as the crowd bayed its approval. This seemed a little off-message given that his dad had just been seen on video saying, "Politics is not about winning for the sake of winning.""

The family asked Dick Cheney to stay away from the funeral. And "the closing hymn was a campaign song, "Stand Up, Keep Fighting" ? only its refrain was edited, from "Vote for Paul Wellstone" to "Remember Paul Wellstone." (N.Y Times) The NYTimes also admitted, "But the anecdotes were overwhelmed by the politics."

The crowds cheered "Fritz! Fritz!" for Walter Mondale who would be the Democrat candidate for the seat. He lost to Republican Norm Coleman. (He "narrowly defeated in the election, winning by just over 61,000 votes out of over 2 million statewide." (Wiki) In 2008, Coleman lost to comedian Al Franken by 312 votes after six months of endless recounts. (Which Democrats do not characterize as "close" or "narrow".)

Franken was sworn in on Wellstone's Bible.

It's really unlikely the funeral/memorial for Ted Kennedy will be as crass as Wellstone's. Any state that voted for Jesse Ventura for governor doesn't have much in the way of dignity or grace anyway. So they're easy to beat in the We-Got-Class stakes. Kennedy was a drunk and womanizer most of his life, but with his Liberal credentials, who in the media cared? Which makes his concern for the health of others not so much laudable as laughable. But don't count on the media playing that tune.

What is gratifying, however, is that while the lamebrain media relentlessly promote Liberalism, the only people they seem to attract as candidates are genuine losers: womanizers who champion women's rights, racists who only tolerate Liberal blacks, drunks, crackpots and eccentrics, moral midgets, bad comics, or outright criminals.

See An untidy private life, then a turn to stability