Camelot Lost - The Kennedy's

In the spirit of kindness and in the belief that we are all members of mankind’s great family…if I am allowed to use the word “mankind”…it would be appropriate to comment on the passing of Ted Kennedy.

My claim to fame with the Kennedy clan involved the 1960 election when Presidential candidate John Kennedy visited the area. His motorcade passed through the Canfield green on his way to downtown Youngstown, and the streets were lined with admirers. My parents were big Kennedy fans, and brought me to witness the event. We were standing front row on the street when Kennedy passed by in his convertible. I reached up to shake his hand, and grabbed his thumb. I didn’t let go. I can still hear my mother screaming to let go of his thumb as either he was going to fall out of the car, or I was going to be dragged by the car. It’s hard to forget something like that.

Ironically, my son just returned from a trip to Oklahoma and Texas. While there, he visited Dallas and the Texas School Book Depository Museum. He was able to look out the window that Oswald used. It sounds kind of creepy to me. He brought me back a book about the assassination, and I was reading it the night before the Senator’s death.

I often wondered what this country would have looked like if Kennedy had not been assassinated. He was withdrawing our advisers from Vietnam. It was Lyndon Johnson who followed Robert McNamara’s advice and escalated our involvement. If the Kennedy view had prevailed, I supposed the cultural revolution of the late 1960’s would never have happened, or at least have been substantially less provocative, as it was the war that fueled the movement. I would even go so far as to say as I doubt that Barack Obama would be president right now.

Although they were fascinating people, the Kennedy’s were typical liberal hypocrites. They were big believers in “do as I say, not as I do.” When the courts forced integration through forced bussing, the Kennedy’s hid behind the walls of their Hyannis compound and sent their kids to private schools. While forcing “mixed” development communities, they still hid behind the walls of their Hyannis compound, making sure there was no encroachment on their property. When they wanted the rest of us to use alternative energy sources, they fought to keep a wind farm from being installed off the coast of Cape Cod by their Hyannis compound. Chappaquiddick became a household word representing how the rich can get away with anything. And when Ted Kennedy became terminally ill with brain cancer, he got the best medicine could offer…using experimental techniques that would not be available to you and I under the proposed health care plan. There was no cost benefit analysis to see if extending his life by an extra three months was worth the cost of all of the procedures and medicine.

Notwithstanding, the passing of Ted Kennedy represents the end of an era. The tragedy that has surrounded this family is inexplicable. In the face of continued adversity, these folks lived large and left their impact on our country. Whether that impact is good or bad is a decision I will leave to you.

But somehow, I just can't get that picture of that 10 year old little boy waiting on the Green in Canfield for the Kennedy motorcade, and grabbing a hold of his thumb. Reality and dreams often clash, and in life we deal with reality. His death marks the end of the Kennedy dream, no matter how unrealistic. As the song says: "Don't let it be forgot / that once there was a spot / for one brief shining moment/ that was knows as Camelot!"