As I replay the different eulogies given for The Late Senator Ted Kennedy, I come to the realization that indeed, there can be life after death. Such inspiring words that came from numerous speakers, what seemed to touch me the most was the speech given by one of Ted Kennedy’s son, the realization that we can indeed overcome our adversities, even those that summon a strength we didn’t know we had. A strength that can come even from the death of two brothers, diagnosis of cancer, professional pushback, and a whole host of personal tragedies.
In the past few weeks, as a Filipino-American, I have been rocked by two deaths of great political and national importance. That of former president Cory Aquino and of Senator Ted Kennedy. Both lives a testament that we can do great things with our lives, and it is often after times of trials, tribulations, and burdensome loss that our greatest moments will come.
And it is in these moments too, that I tear up, my soul cries out, and my resolve strengthens even more. Because, if our lives were just a fraction of what was achieved with these two individuals, indeed we could consider ourselves a success. It shows too, that public service can both be rewarding and a great sacrifice, but in the end, it will always be what we have given back to humanity which we will be remembered for.
Cory and Ted, worlds apart, connected by the politics of life, no matter what nationality, for brief moments in their lives, held an their entire nation’s focus, either through their life, or through their deaths. The connection is there, we are bound by humanities’ similarities, and thus we can either rise or fall just as any nation has and will during the span of their existence.
Just as Cory and Teddy had great hopes for their respective nations, we have to have hope, we have to hold on to these dreams, because it is in these dreams that our realities may come to fruition. We are makers of our own destiny, the shapers of our own future, and as we work for our nation, we must not forget, that what also makes a nation are the invdividual citizens that form a collective.
Two political juggernauts, who lived a full life, both struck down by cancer, both lived a tumultuous and a trying life, but both loved by the nation they tried to serve. I think this is why I am so touched and moved, why I have spent a few hours, and even days, just contemplating and looking back, for a life as young as mine, just how much these two individuals have impacted my life, both directly and indirectly. Ted, one of the greatest legislators of our time, and Cory a mother to a nation coming back from the darkness of the Marcos years. I tip my hat, I offer my great appreciation, both were not perfect, there are still a great many in each sector of society that do not give them their due respect, but there is a majority it seems, that will miss their presence, but are ever so thankful for the years they have given to public life.
Camelot has lost yet another son, and our very own Republic has lost yet another daughter. She succumbed peacefully into the night, unlike many other heroes of our past, but it was in life that we should take away the most important lessons of Cory Aquino. And indeed, different writers, different Filipinos will have come away with different pieces of wisdom gathered from observing that ever so public life, as for this writer, this blogger, I shall always look to her as an example for where faith may lead us.
Whether we have different motivations for the word faith, I assume we can arrive at a consensus, that faith can also be a belief that no matter where we are in our darkest of days, there lies ahead of the horizon, brighter days. That in death, truly there is life.
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Please explain to me why Americans still think the Kennedys so amazing. Aren’t they the ultimate TRAPOS, and JFK one of America’s worst presidents? Arrogant, adulterous, election cheater, hawk?
America’s one of the most cynical nations on earth, so why keep this mirage of Camelot?
not all americans, brianb, only the left-leaning liberals. ted kennedy could not win even a nomination for president. he may have owned a portion of massachusets politically but he was a regional politician, that’s all. i doubt john kennedy could have won re-election after the bay of pigs debacle.
btw, nick, as to cory, may she rest in peace. maybe we just have to stop politicizing her death, propping up noynoy in her name.
Well, I’ve always admired Senator Kennedy, not because he was a perfect human being, but because he proved that an imperfect man, full of mistakes, can still make a difference.. over 300+ Senate Bills grace his name, 60+ authored by himself.. millions that have been helped.. his public service is substantial.
I am a liberal, a bit more moderate than I used to be in the past, but I choose not to use labels in order to portray any man, for it restricts us from critical thinking that is needed to reach across the aisle.
Indeed, my friend Ben, may she indeed rest in peace. That’s as much as I will say about this matter in the meantime, thank you for the comment.
According to Fran the Nanny.. He parked the car in the river and got away with it!
You don’t need to be a whiz to realize why any Kennedy is unlikely to be a president.
BrianB,
America is not cynical; some of its people are.
Perhaps you had to be there to witness JFK and Bobby in action, eh? At a time of stress with the Soviet Union and China, social stress dealing with the ending of various discriminations, racial, gender, age, they were the hope of youth and admired for their sharp wit and sense of humor. One man’s confidence is another man’s arrogance. I never saw them as arrogant, although you probably find most Americans a little too pushy for your liking.
As for Ted, he is reviled for his faults and praised for his steadfast ability to rise above them with honor and faith in his God, and to hold his family up when it was down. He is of an old school of politics that saw respect given to those with whom one disagreed. It is sorely missing today, and with his passing, you can bet that the US political descent into unproductive partisan bickering will grow worse.
The Kennedy’s were a dynasty, remain active in politics, and are fundamentally good and well-principled people in dealing with the PEOPLE’S interests. If that is TRAPOS, they were good ones. That they had private peccadilloes only makes them manly, in my book, if slightly opportunistic.
They were an amazing trio of brothers. That’s why we think they are.
Joe
Well, most US pols have to stick to principles and party platform. If they didn’t they wouldn’t have a career. If they didn’t put their political base first in everything they do they’d never win.
Put a John and Bobby Kennedy in a Philippine-type setup and you’d probably see another Marcos. Hyperbole?
Nick, what is the sense of a description like camelot? The Kennedys were new money, their dad, the British ambassador, was supposed to have amassed wealth through graft and bootlegging. They had connections with the Mafia. And did the family preside over an America of peace and prosperity (i.e. Vietnam war?). I thin you’re too carried away by how good Bobby and John were as public speakers. Kind of like remembering Cory only for her speech at the US Congress.
No, BrianB, they didn’t. Read some history. Vietnam was Johnson’s war, and Nixon’s; it started under Kennedy, true, but who railroaded the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution through Congress? (long after JFK’s death, in case you weren’t clear on that) And RFK ran for president on a largely anti-war platform.
BrianB,
You asked why Americans think the Kennedys are amazing, and I told you why I thought they were.
Then you tell me I am wrong and only listened to their speeches.
If you don’t want other people’s opinions, and aren’t willing to respect them, why ask for them?
I was there. Were you there?
If you have your mind made up already, why waste my time asking for input that you don’t really want.
Joe
Because unlike your TRAPOS, the Kennedys — Ted, anyway, I’ve always taken a lesser view of his brothers — actually put the people first. They were rare — dynastic politicians who understood their wealth and power was best served by serving everybody. Show me a politician anywhere, this country, the US, the entire planet, that’s accomplished as much as Ted Kennedy in the 20th-21st centuries. There’s very few, if any.
Indeed.
People who accomplished extraordinary goals, did not have extraordinary abilities. They are people like you and me. They have one goal in life. They want to serve humanity; with sincerity of purpose. Their personal tragedies and sufferings had strengthen them to accomplish the task. We are all strengthened by sufferings. When you can look at yourself, and say:”I have done my best”. That is the only time that you can be at peace with your soul…
It seems that the Kennedys were raised as real nobility, thinking themselves higher than common folk. They are also snobs, the real kind, not the defensive ones–they believed every person has a duty to fulfill according to his class.
Brian B,
Kennedys as snobs.
Interesting characterization. Joe Kennedy raised his sons to succeed in politics. He gave them social awareness, confidence, and the ability to argue issues. Dinner conversations were debates, where Joe would pose the issue and the sons debate from various perspectives. Joe raised his sons well.
I have never quite understood the Filipino tendency to confuse confidence with arrogance. I suppose the Filipino way is to bow to elders or those of authority, rather than push back. Most successful Americans have learned to push. Even the people push, through organizations such as the Civil Liberties Union or other issues-based groups. Americans are considered arrogant by those “pushed”; that is certainly the case in the Philippines.
Mostly the Kennedys were just confident and capable and able to run over those of lesser capability. It had nothing to do with class or arrogance. It had to do with education and confidence.
Joe
I don’t know. I just read Seymour Hersh’s book where he described the Kennedy upbringing as such. I suppose even to an American, the Kennedys were too pushy.
BrianB,
Read books from those who admire, and those who don’t, and, indeed, make up your own mind. The divergence of views in the US is astounding, so you can always find some who agree with you, some who don’t, and many who don’t give a whit.
Joe
The Hersh book is reportage, and Hersh is a journalist and positively liberal.
“some who don’t, and many who don’t give a whit.”
Not about opinions but provable fact and history. Books are useless if your attitude is “he-said, she-said, who cares” and so is intelligence.
BrianB,
Yes, I agree.
Joe
I find Fil-Ams’ and many Pinoys’ hero worship of Ted Kennedy disturbing. It appears that they just imported their local Pinoy political culture to an American setting. They fall for the charisma and the glamor of the Kennedy name and scrounge around for a Pinoy equivalent.
Ted Kennedy was a hardcore liberal with a cultural/social agenda many Americans reject. From the barbarity of abortion on demand to the unfairness of affirmative action, Ted Kennedy was hellbent on fulfilling a liberal agenda that most Americans disagree with and run counter to their cultural/historical values. That’s why Ted Kennedy and most liberals faced eclipse back in the 80s during the Reagan Revolution.
Moreover, most Pinoys (online and pinoy pundits) either are ignorant of or, worse, willfully oblivious to Ted Kennedy’s greatest moral flaw–the Chappaquidick incident. What level of arrogance and sense of entitlement would drive a man to do (or fail to do) what Ted Kennedy did in that fateful day? Not only did that incident torpedo any presidential ambition he may have, it also permanently stained his character–do gooder liberalism notwithstanding.
Trying to equate Kennedy with Aquino is a futile exercise unless you think Aquino’s Faustian deal with the military is her version of Chappaquidick.
This is actually the feeling I got from this post, I just didn’t want to hurt people’s feelings. :)
Of course, many Americans reject the Ted Kennedy platform, but you are glossing over a key detail — election-2008 the majority of USA voters elected the democrats back into the White House, and Republicans lost seats to where republicans are now minority party.
Things can change in midterm and things can change in 2012, but 2008, Ted Kennedy party was chosen into leadership by USA voters.
But yes, many Americans, a large number of Americans reject the Ted Kennedy platform.
Understanding Filipino Culture,
I don’t know about Filipinos, actually, but I don’t think most Americans view Ted Kennedy as a “hero”. Those who know of his works admire his dedication to his principles (democratic, people based, as opposed to republican, free-market based). You are clearly of the bencard school of ideology, which is fine. But liberals are not anti-American, many find abortion as horrific as you do, and most consider that affirmative action was a needed “unfairness” to rectify the unfair discrimination practiced by the state and its peoples for many years. I daresay that 99% of black Americans would disagree with your assessment of affirmative action. And, yes, blacks are American, too.
I suspect not as many people are ignorant of Chappaquidick as you suggest. For myself, I felt much the same as you at the time of the incident, but, with the passing of the years, believe Ted Kennedy atoned for his mistake, and indeed, suspect it may have been his punishment of himself that drove him so hard to do good for others for the rest of his life. So on the scales of bad versus good, you would be hard-pressed to find anyone who knew of his works who would say his bad actions outweighed his good, or would choose, on the scale of humanity, to claim as you do that he was a bad fellow.
I would add that you may not like what he stood for, but on the occasion of someone’s death, it is generally considered more gracious to reflect on a man’s accomplishments than his failings.
Joe
Speaking of life after death :
http://www.malaya.com.ph/sep02/news1.htm
and heaven ?
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