Senator Ted Kennedy Has Died

and how hard it had landed on him over Chappaquidick, I can't say I blame the man.

This is from the AP eulogy the local NBC affiliate (which is farther to the right in my hometown than the local Fox affiliate, hard as that may be to believe) emailed me this morning:

By GLEN JOHNSON
_{Associated Press Writer}

BOSTON (AP) - Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, the liberal lion of the Senate and
haunted bearer of the Camelot torch after two of his brothers fell to
assassins' bullets, has died after battling a brain tumor. He was 77.

For nearly a half-century in the Senate, Kennedy was a steadfast champion
of the working class and the poor, a powerful voice on health care, civil
rights, and war and peace. To the American public, though, he was best
known as the last surviving son of America's most glamorous political
family, the eulogist of a clan shattered again and again by tragedy.

His family announced his death in a brief statement released early
Wednesday.

"We've lost the irreplaceable center of our family and joyous light in our
lives, but the inspiration of his faith, optimism, and perseverance will
live on in our hearts forever," the statement said. "We thank everyone who
gave him care and support over this last year, and everyone who stood with
him for so many years in his tireless march for progress toward justice,
fairness and opportunity for all."

Kennedy was elected to the Senate in 1962, when his brother John was
president, and served longer than all but two senators in history. Over the
decades, he put his imprint on every major piece of social legislation to
clear the Congress.

His own hopes of reaching the White House were damaged - perhaps doomed -
in 1969 by the scandal that came to be known as Chappaquiddick, an auto
accident that left a young woman dead.

Kennedy - known to family, friends and foes simply as Ted - ended his quest
for the presidency in 1980 with a stirring valedictory that echoed across
the decades:

"For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the
cause endures, the hope still lives and the dream shall never die."

The third-longest-serving senator in U.S. history, Kennedy was diagnosed
with a cancerous brain tumor in May 2008 and underwent surgery and a
grueling regimen of radiation and chemotherapy.

His death late Tuesday comes just weeks after that of his sister Eunice
Kennedy Shriver on Aug. 11.

In a recent interview with The Associated Press, Kennedy's son Rep. Patrick
Kennedy, D-R.I., said his father had defied the predictions of doctors by
surviving more than a year with his fight against brain cancer.

The younger Kennedy said that gave family members a surprise blessing, as
they were able to spend more time with the senator and to tell him how much
he had meant to their lives.

The younger Kennedy said his father's legacy was built largely in the
Senate.

"He has authored more pieces of major legislation than any other United
States senator," Patrick Kennedy said in the interview. "He is the
penultimate senator. I don't need to exaggerate when I talk about my
father. That's the amazing thing. He breaks all the records himself."

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

I can think of no more fitting tribute to Ted Kennedy than to realize his dream for his constituents, both within and beyond the borders of the State that sent him back to the United States Senate eight times. I've read elsewhere that Senator Robert Byrd seeks to put Senator Kennedy's name on a health care reform bill. Let that be the legacy of the man from Massachusetts who carried Camelot's torch so long and so faithfully: that we stop denying citizenship's full bounty.
"For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the
cause endures, the hope still lives and the dream shall never die."