As posted earlier, Ed Klein, Newsweek editor and close personal friend of recently-deceased Senator Ted Kennedy, explain that the Chappaquiddick incident was one of Kennedy’s favorite humorous subjects. Most conservative commentators have avoided the Chappaquiddick incident out of respect for the recently deceased and his mourning family. However, there has been no shortage of references about the 1969 fatal car accident coming from sources friendly to Kennedy and his politics. As displayed through the Klein comments, Kennedy’s supporters don’t seem concerned with how tasteless or cold-hearted their comments are about the incident that claimed the life of 29-year-old Mary Jo Kopechne. The worst reference so far has to be the comment from Melissa Lafsky writing for the liberal Huffington Post on Friday.

Talking about the death of Kopechne, Lafsky wrote,

No Ms. Lafsky, we don't think Mary Jo Kopechne would "feel it was worth it."

“We don’t know how much Kennedy was affected by her death, or what she’d have thought about arguably being a catalyst for the most successful Senate career in history. What we don’t know, as always, could fill a Metrodome.

“Still, ignorance doesn’t preclude a right to wonder. So it doesn’t automatically make someone (aka, me) a Limbaugh-loving, aerial-wolf-hunting NRA troll for asking what Mary Jo Kopechne would have had to say about Ted’s death, and what she’d have thought of the life and career that are being (rightfully) heralded.

“Who knows — maybe she’d feel it was worth it.” (emphasis added)

Does Lafsky really think that a young lady left to gasp for her last breaths in an air pocket while trapped inside Kennedy’s submerged Oldsmobile would have considered her death justifiable after reading about Kenney’s accomplishments in the Senate? Is this the level of idolatry that liberals maintain for their elected officials? It is believed that Kopechne was trapped in the car for about five hours before running out of air. While she was pressed against a closed car window, trying to cling to life, the man responsible for her death was walking past many phones and a fire station on his way back to tell his friends what had happened. After all of the men returned to the scene of the crime, they were convinced they couldn’t save her and then went to drop Kennedy off at the ferry landing so he could swim the channel alone and fall asleep in his hotel room. By the time Kennedy fell asleep, Kopechne’s air pocket had probably run out and her 29-year-life ended on the bottom of an inlet under a bridge. Even after he woke the next morning, Kennedy did not call the authorities until after he chatted about yachting with a local man and met with him for breakfast.

No Ms. Lafsky, I don’t think that Mary Jo Kopechne would have sacrificed the rest of her life with the prospects of getting married, having children, and impacting the world in her own way in order for a self-serving politician to secure life-time tenure in the US Senate. How dare anyone even hint that Kopechne would have viewed her own life as that insignificant?

After Kennedy’s death, no one was expecting wall-to-wall coverage about what was probably the darkest chapter of his life. There would be a time to discuss it, but not during his funeral. During the initial shock of his death, his family shouldn’t have to have the incident replayed on a perpetual loop while they are mourning. However, at the same time, Kennedy’s supporters are doing the senator they obviously admire a severe disservice by writing such inflammatory rhetoric.   

There is a difference between honoring a friend and colleague and blatantly bending the truth in an attempt to whitewash history. Lafsky and Ed Klein do their fallen friend a grave disservice by making it necessary for us to truthfully address their hideous claims about the death of Mary Jo Kopechne.

On Thursday night, Democrat representative Diane Watson held a town hall meeting for her district in Los Angeles. While speaking about the harsh criticism President Obama has met since taking office, Watson couldn’t resist pulling out a race card to play. Watson, who happens to be black, told the crowd, “They are spreading fear and they’re trying to see that the first president who looks like me — fails.”

Here are her racially-motivated remarks from Breitbart.com:

During the same meeting, Watson also praised Cuba’s health care system and fondly recalled meeting Fidel Castro. This doesn’t help the Democrats’ insistence that there are no socialist ideas behind their agenda. Breitbart.com also posted these comments today.

Although it shouldn’t come as a surprise, it does continue to shed light on the extremely favorable media coverage President Obama receives from his lap-dogs in the press. This week, the nonprofit group League of American Voters submitted a commercial to run on all of the major networks. The ad’s message focuses on the fact that the current health care proposals before Congress will lead to rationing of health care and will disproportionately “decimate the quality of health care for seniors.” Bob Adams, executive director of League of American Voters, said that the advertisement is already running on local network affiliates in several states. CBS has agreed to air the commercial during national network programming and talks are currently underway with FOX. However, both ABC and NBC are refusing to run the commercial. NBC is reportedly questioning some of the facts and ABC rejects it for being too “partisan.”

ABC and NBC won't dare offend the president by running anti-ObamaCare commercial.

None of this should surprise anyone. ABC was the network that turned over a whole day’s programming to the White House for B. Hussein Obama to push his health care proposals. The network refused to give any time to any of the president’s opponents to counter the numerous false claims the president made throughout the day. The other network, NBC, might as well be run from the White House every day. Jeffrey Immelt, the CEO of GE, NBC’s parent company, has advised the president on an array of topics including “renewable energy.” GE happens to be the largest manufacturer of wind turbines and has developed products to be used in national carbon trading schemes. Without Obama’s cap-and-trade plan, these products would be worthless. Immelt has also been appointed by the Obama administration to sit on the New York Federal Reserve Board. On any given night, MSNBC can be found singing the praises of B. Hussein Obama and getting thrills up their legs at the sound of the president’s voice while simultaneously demonizing anyone who dares question him.

It’s obvious that journalism is officially dead, especially at ABC and NBC. They’re partisan motives are completely transparent and it shouldn’t surprise anyone that they are refusing to run an ad critical of Obama’s health care plans. These two networks shouldn’t be surprised that as Obama’s public approval ratings tank, so do their ratings.

We've avoided Chappaquiddick out of respect. However, after Kennedy's close friend says the senator often joked about it, it's time to address the pink elephant in the room.

Morrissey includes a response to Klein’s “fond memories” from Mark Hemingway who shares most people’s shock and outrage over the idea that Kennedy found humor in Kopechne’s death or even thought that Kennedy “always saw the other side of everything and the ridiculous side of things, too.” Hemingway stated, “EXCUSE ME? If that’s true it makes Kennedy kind of a monster. The odd thing is that if you listen to the whole show, the tone of everyone involved is nauseatingly haigographic and reverential. Klein apparently let his guard down a bit; after he lets it slip Kennedy liked to joke about the woman he killed you can actually hear in his voice that he’s trying to backpedal. The show actually cuts to a break as he’s trying to explain himself, and I seriously wonder if it wasn’t the producers trying to do Klein a favor. But I’m sorry, there appears to be little to that could explain this. It goes way beyond “you had to be there.”

For anyone not familiar with the ghastly facts of the events that transpired on the night of Kopechne’s death, here are few of the details that point to Ted Kennedy’s character. On July 18, 1969, Kennedy and five other married men went to a cottage on Chappaquiddick Island and met with six single young women who had previously worked on his brother, Robert Kennedy’s campaign in 1968. In the evening, Kennedy left in his Oldsmobile with 28-year-old Kopechne. In his official statements, Kennedy said that he was taking Kopechne to catch a ferry so she could return to her hotel room. However, the bridge that Kennedy ended up running his car off of was in the opposite direction from the ferry. Instead, they were traveling on a road towards the beach. While recklessly speeding, Kennedy lost control of the car and ran off of a bridge into the inlet known as Poucha Pond below. Kennedy was able to escape from the submerged vehicle, but Kopechne wasn’t so lucky. After swimming to safety, Kennedy returned to the cottage and told the men about what had happened and instructed them not to tell the other ladies about the accident. The men accompanied Kennedy to the crash site but none were able to locate the young lady. At no time up to this point had Kennedy contacted the police and rescue personnel even though he walked past plenty of pay phones, farm houses, and even a fire house on his way back to the cottage. Once Kennedy determined he would not be able to locate Kopechne, he asked the other men to drive him to the ferry, which had already stopped running for the night. From the ferry landing, Kennedy told his friends not to call the authorities or tell the other women about anything. Before swimming across the channel to return to his hotel room, the other men made Kennedy promise to call the authorities as soon as possible. Kennedy agreed, swam across the channel and returned to his hotel room to fall asleep.

The next morning, Kennedy engaged in a conversation about yachting with a local resident and agreed to meet him for breakfast. At about 7:30 AM, two of the men from the cottage found Kennedy and asked him who he called about the accident the night before. Kennedy responded that he had not called anyone yet. Speaking to the authorities, Kennedy explained, “I just couldn’t gain the strength within me, the moral strength, to call Mrs. Kopechne at 2 in the morning, and tell her that her daughter was dead.” He didn’t work up the “moral strength” to call the authorities until about 9:00 AM the morning after.

As the explanation of the incident on PoliticsDaily.com states, not reporting a fatal traffic accident is a felony. However, the police chief on Martha’s Vineyard never felt the need to ask Kennedy why he waited nine hours to call anyone regarding Kopechne’s death. The State of Massachusetts suspended Kenney’s driver’s license for six months after citing his excessive speed for the accident. That was the extent of the now-deceased senator’s punishment.

Up to this point, I haven’t wanted to mention the Chappaquiddick incident out of respect for a recently deceased man and his mourning family. Since the news of his death, several of Kennedy’s supporters have briefly mentioned the events of that night to quickly state the great grief and sorrow Kennedy felt over Kopechne’s death. However, from Klein’s testimony about his close friend, we know hear that Kopechne’s death was a source of humor for Kennedy because he “saw the other side of everything and the ridiculous side of things, too.” The most ridiculous side of that evening was the fact that Senator Kennedy never reported the incident to bring in professionals who might have had a chance at rescuing the young lady trapped at the bottom of the inlet in Kennedy’s Oldsmobile. It’s also ridiculous that Kennedy never faced the consequences of his actions. It’s outrageous to think that the senator joked about that night with his friends.

Kennedy never quite realized his disconnect from average Americans. After Gerald Ford pardoned Richard Nixon, an outraged Kennedy declared, “Is there one system of justice for the average citizen and another for the high and mighty?” Apparently, he never saw the hypocrisy of his words.

Many of Kennedy’s colleagues speak fondly of him. According to many current and former senators, Kennedy had a very personable demeanor and many in Washington found it pleasurable working with him. However, the tributes are getting a little out-of-hand. Out of decency, I have refrained from mentioning Chappaquiddick. However, hearing a close friend of Kennedy’s fondly reminisce about the humor of that tragic evening is enough to break the silence on the subject and shed some light onto, according to Klein, one of Kennedy’s favorite topics of humor. Sorry, Mr. Klein but we “didn’t have to be there” to realize there was nothing funny about that night or Kennedy’s cowardly actions.

Below is the audio HotAir.com posted of Ed Klein’s remarks:

The AIG bonuses sparked enough anger that liberal attack-dog ACORN took a busload of protestors to executives' homes to scare their families, including the executives' children.

The Washington Times published an article Wednesday disclosing a new bonus that the US House of Representatives snuck in for top aides. Stephen Dinan wrote in his article that one month after voting to punish executives at AIG who received bonuses with a confiscatory 90% tax, the House quietly expanded a program to repay student loans for House staffers. Under the expanded program, top congressional aides earning $168,411 a year are eligible to receive up to $10,000 each year towards repayment of student loans. (I guess we should consider that they do work for the House which probably means they can spend a measly $168,411 on their lunch hour.) Kyle Anderson, a spokesman for the House Administration Committee which has jurisdiction over internal House employment, salaries, and expenses explained, “There’s still a tremendous demand for high-end Hill talent even in this current job market. Expanding eligibility for the benefit allows us to retain valued and seasoned personnel who might otherwise be lured away to more financially lucrative pursuits.” The college loan payments are expected to cost taxpayers $12.6 million this year. The Senate and Executive branch offers similar benefits but neither branch allows employees earning as much as the House to be eligible.

If his excuse sounds familiar, it should because company spokesmen for AIG gave the exact same excuse for the bonuses they paid to executives which drew the anger from top Democrats in Congress who were up-at-arms for the AIG bonuses which had been specifically protected in an amendment to the stimulus bill. The offensive amendment was written by Democrat Senator and large AIG campaign donation recipient, Chris Dodd at the direction of Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner. Even after the details were revealed, Democrats never toned down their indignation. In response, House Democrats rushed to pass a retroactive 90% tax on the AIG executives’ bonuses in order to reclaim the money. Just one month later, the House upped bonuses for their top staffers already earning $168,411 a year.

This is the same Congress that voted themselves a raise in the midst of skyrocketing unemployment and the subprime meltdown that led to the current deep recession. Just a couple of weeks ago, public outrage caused House Democrats to remove from an appropriations bill a request for several luxurious private jets for their own use. Members of Congress are completely out of touch with reality. They are spending our tax dollars freely and not giving second thought to any provision to reward themselves more. This does help explain how Democrats are so surprised at the outrage they are facing at town hall meetings across the nation. They can’t wait to get back to Capitol Hill where they don’t have to interact with the ignorant unwashed masses who are funding their spending orgy.

Democrat Charlie Rangel who chairs committee that writes tax code, "forgot" half of his assest in his official financial disclosure forms.

Democrat Charlie Rangel, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee which writes the US federal tax code, released an amended financial disclosure for 2007. The amended disclosure included over $500,000 worth of assets in his net worth that he claims to have “forgot” in filing the original version. Richard Rubin and Alex Knott reported on the assets that slipped Rangel’s mind in an article for Congressional Quarterly. According to Rubin and Knott, Rangel couldn’t remember that he had a checking account at the Congressional Federal Credit Union worth at least $250,000, an investment account holding at least $250,000, land in southern New Jersey and stock in PepsiCo and fast-food chain owner Yum! Brands. (Honestly, who could keep up with minute details such as these. Who among us has never forgot about that little bit of land we own in southern New Jersey?) All of these assets were omitted from the original net worth statement Rangel filled out by hand and submitted in May of 2008.

The original report showed Rangel’s net worth was in the range of $516,015 to $1,316,000. The amended report moved his net worth to at least $1,028,024 to as much as $2,495,000. Once again, who hasn’t “forgotten” about half of their assets at one time or another?

Rangel also amended his statement of investment income for 2007. His original statement, once again filled out by hand, said the House Ways and Means Committee Chairman received between $6,511 and $17,900. The amended statement reports investment income in the range of $45,423 to $134,700. Once again, Rangel’s original report accounted for less than half of his real assets and that’s considering income remained in the very lowest amount of the range provided.

We have been waiting for quite awhile to see Rangel’s restated disclosures. The House is supposed to be investigating him for earlier revelations that he did not report on his taxes $75,000 in income from a rental property he owns in Central America and inconsistencies regarding his rent-controlled apartments in New York. Something tells me that we shouldn’t hold our breath waiting for Pelosi to order the investigation, much less waiting for him to receive any punishment.

It is outrageous that Rangel remains in his chairmanship of the House Ways and Means Committee whose primary responsibility is writing the nation’s tax code. Rangel has already been caught cheating on his taxes and now he’s been caught red-handed hiding half of his assets on his financial disclosure statements. (Gee, more problems of transparency in the “Age of Obama” coming out of Nancy Pelosi’s Congress which she promised would be the “most ethical in history” to end the “culture of corruption under the Republicans.) How much would anyone like to bet that the restated assets also weren’t fully disclosed on his tax forms either?

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner who is now in charge of the IRS was the first in a long line of tax cheats nominated by Obama.

So currently, we have Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, a chronic tax cheat, in charge of the IRS. Now, it’s further confirmed that the man who oversees writing of the nation’s tax code also cheated on his taxes while lying to the American public. Yet, it seems that the top Democrats are completely copasetic with everything. Not only do Democrats condone cheating on taxes, they tax evaders to positions controlling the enforcement and creation of the tax code. Our vice president insisted that paying higher taxes is “patriotic” and B. Hussein Obama explained that everyone is going to have to “have some skin in the game” to turn the economy around. Perhaps if Democrats started paying their taxes, others wouldn’t have to kick in so much more of their own skin into the Democrats’ game. This is the “change we can believe in?”

Tuesday morning, someone took a hammer and broke the windows at the Colorado Democrat Party headquarters. The windows shattered displayed posters supporting President Obama’s health care proposals. Speaking to the press that morning, Pat Waak, the Democratic Party chairwoman said that the vandalism to her building was the result of “an effort on the other side to stir up hate.” This damage had to be committed by some rightwing extremist. You know, one of those “evil mongers” that Harry Reid was talking about who “carry swastikas” as Nancy Pelosi asserted and use “brown shirt tactics” as Washington State representative Brian Baird accused. Those rightwing extremists that the Department of Homeland Security issued their report warning about had finally gone too far.

Maurice Schwenkler was arrested for breaking windows of the Democrat HQ in Colorado. It turns out Schwenkler wasn't a rightwing extremist. Instead, he was a former Democrat campaign staffer.

The Denver Post published the most recent update to the story. Waak’s rhetoric cooled after police arrested 24-year-old Maurice Schwenkler in connection with the crime. Schwenkler’s accomplice still remains at large. After the arrest, a few facts surfaced about Schwenkler that caused Waak to retreat on her accusations. It seems that the Democrat Party headquarters’ windows weren’t broken by a rightwing extremist. Instead, they were broken by Schwenkler who was arrested last fall in St. Paul Minnesota at the 2008 Republican National Convention for unlawful protest. He also served as a door-to-door canvasser for Democrat candidate Molle Cullom during last year’s November election. Therefore, the vandalism wasn’t the result of rightwing extremists’ violent acts – it was the result of a liberal activist trying to create the image of violent acts from rightwing extremists.

So what did Waak say after the vandal’s identity and political affiliations were discovered? She explained, “What I’ve been saying is there is a lot of rhetoric out there from both sides of the spectrum. That’s what’s really disturbing to me. People are saying a lot of things not appropriate for civil discourse.” Excuse me? Only a liberal Democrat could accuse political adversaries of vandalizing their building in order to “stir up hate” and then not apologize after it’s discovered that the crime was committed by a member of their own party in an effort to frame Republicans. Waak’s follow-up statement still implies that even though this crime wasn’t committed by rightwing extremists, it doesn’t mean that it couldn’t have been.

As discussed in an earlier post, leftwing extremists were arrested in St. Paul for planning to bomb the RNC last year and the FBI informant who prevented the attacks received a death threat from another leftwing activist. In St. Louis, a former Democrat campaign strategist was arrested for setting off a bomb in a Clayton, Missouri parking garage intended to kill the attorney who represented plaintiffs against the man in multiple cases. Just a couple of weeks ago, a man in St. Louis was hospitalized in after he was brutally beaten by members of the SEIU because he was a black conservative. Now, we have a Democrat campaign worker busting out windows in Colorado in an effort to create the image of rightwing extremist violence. Yet, even after all of this, Democrats and supposed “journalists” in the main stream media are still wringing their hands at the threat of violence committed by rightwing extremists.  Tell me again, who are the “evil mongers” employing “brown shirt tactics” in the current debates?

My hopes that Ted Kennedy’s death wouldn’t be politicized were obviously short-lived. Today the Wall Street Journal reported that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sent an email to reporters not long after Kenney passed away, calling for passage of health care reform. Her message stated, “Ted Kennedy’s dream of quality health care for all Americans will be made real this year because of his leadership and inspiration.”

SEIU president Andy Stern issued a similar statement. Stern requested, “Let us continue his cause. Let us take action this year to pass health care reform. And let us continue to build Kennedy’s vision of America.”

The WSJ also included another request from House majority whip, James Clyburn, who said, “As we move forward with health reform legislation, his absence will be palpable. But let us use his inspirational words as our guide, to rise to our best ideals and finally provide decent quality health care to all Americans as a fundamental right, not a privilege.”

Democrat Senator Chris Dodd also called for Kennedy’s death to cause health care opponents to step back and approach the debate in a quieter manner.

Out of respect for the mourning Kennedy family and a deceased man, now is not the time for me to discuss Ted Kennedy’s legacy. As stated in my previous post on Kennedy’s passing, now is not the time to criticize Kennedy’s legacy. Instead, it’s a time to offer our prayers and condolences to a fellow American family dealing with the loss of their family member. However, when I wrote the first post announcing Kennedy’s death, I struggled about whether or not to include the remarks about my hopes that Democrats would not decide to turn his passing into a political tool. As the post reveals, I did decide to include my concerns and today those concerns prove to be well-founded.

The Democrats’ decision to view their colleague’s death as a chance to build support for their health care reform proposals which have become increasingly unpopular with voters shows the Democrat leadership as the political opportunists they are. Wielding their fellow Democrat’s memory as a bludgeon against political opponents only desecrates any fond memories they may hold for him.

While Pelosi sees Nazis everywhere and MSNBC accuses health care reform opponents of inciting violence, none seem too concerned with the leftwing extremists running wild.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi claims that health care opponents are “carrying swastikas and symbols like that” to town hall meetings. Washington State Democrat Brian Baird publically stated that opponents to ObamaCare are using “brown shirt tactics.” Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid must have run out of Nazi descriptions when he cut to the chase and called health care reform protestors “evil mongers.” While Democrats are falling all over themselves to conjure up visions of Nazi Germany, their lapdogs in the press also give warnings that the protestors are fueling violence from the militia movement and stoking the flames of racism. Recently, I posted about MSNBC’s “report” about angry white people showing up with guns to an event where President Obama was scheduled to speak. While the video showed a close-up of the AR-15 slung across a man’s back, MSNBC cropped the shot to exclude an important fact considering their statement that racist white people were bringing guns to protest the president – the man in the video was black. Yes, liberals are losing sleep over threats of violence from those nasty “rightwing extremists” that Janet Napolitano’s Department of Homeland Security issued a report warning about. After focusing so hard on the potential for rightwing violence, these same liberals missed a few other recent stories about actual acts of violence and domestic terrorism.

Last fall at the Republican National Convention (RNC) in Minnesota, two liberals from Austin, Texas were arrested for possessing Molotov cocktails which they made to throw at police cars securing the RNC. The men were sentenced in federal court last May. The two men had traveled from Texas to Minnesota last year with 35 riot shields that they had constructed from stolen traffic barrels. They planned to use the shields to help demonstrators block safe entrance to the RNC held at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. The St. Paul police discovered and confiscated the shields which angered the two men further and led them to purchase the materials to manufacture the Molotov cocktails. Their plans to bomb police cars at a parking lot that served as a checkpoint for people entering the RNC were overheard by an FBI informant. The two liberal activists were caught and the Molotov cocktails were found in their possession at the time of the arrest. After the men were arrested, Katyanne Marie Kirby, a 25-year-old lady also from Texas sent an email to the informant threatening his life. She was also arrested and faces trial this month.

As if the two domestic terrorists arrested for plotting to kill innocent people entering the RNC wasn’t bad enough, another story in St. Louis involves another liberal Democrat attempting to bomb his adversaries. Milton “Skip” Ohlsen III, a former Democrat campaign strategist, was arrested recently for setting off a bomb that injured a 70-year-old attorney in a parking garage in Clayton, Missouri. Authorities believe the bomb was actually intended for a different attorney who worked in the same building who had represented Ohlsen’s ex-wife during a divorce in December 2007. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that the targeted attorney also represented another man who obtained a temporary restraining order against the Democrat campaign strategist. In an unrelated case, Ohlsen was also arrested on federal fraud and firearm charges on December 18. As if the previous legal woes aren’t enough, Olhsen is also facing more charges for his role in the current scandals surrounding the 2004 congressional campaign of Democrats Jeff Smith, a state senator from St. Louis, and Steve Brown, a state representative from Clayton. The scandal involves an FEC complaint accusing Smith of skirting federal law to produce anonymous fliers criticizing current US representative, Democrat Russ Carnahan.

Good thing none of the bombers above weren’t opposed to ObamaCare. If they had been, Democrats might also label them violent extremists and MSNBC may have actually reported the story in between editing video to paint a picture of racist white men hell-bent on gunning down the president. Violent liberal activists aren’t anything new. From B. Hussein Obama’s good buddy, William Ayers, to the environmental whackos who blow up SUV dealerships and other targets committing perceived crimes against Mother Nature, leftwing extremists have a long history of turning their anger into violent explosions. However, just as none of the Democrats or Obama-friendly press seemed concerned about SEIU thugs putting a man in the hospital because he was a black conservative, they seem to be following the trend of ignoring other violent liberals. The plots to blow up the DNC, the death threat of the FBI informant, Ohlsen’s bomb, and the beating of Kenneth Gladney don’t require imagination and predictions from liberal pundits to analyze. These are all actual incidents of violence from agents of the left. Isn’t the double standard getting old?

Early this morning, the “Liberal Lion” of the Senate, Edward M. Kennedy died. He had been battling a brain tumor for quite some time and around 1:00 AM EST, the battle ended. The nation sends its condolences to the Kennedy family as they mourn their loss.

No matter what your views of Sen. Kennedy, there is no reason not to reserve a place in your prayers for him and his family as they cope with this difficult time.

I do hope that no one uses Kennedy’s passing as a tool in the current health care debate. Kennedy was said to have considered universal health care the main focus of his lengthy career in the Senate. With public support for the Democrat plans waning, many moderate Democrats in both the House and Senate are expressing worries about voting for the bills. Hopefully, Kennedy’s death does not become part of any strategy to pressure hesitant Democrat party members to vote in favor of the current legislation in either chamber.