Ted Kennedy: the last Tammany Hall politician?
Most of them were simply crooks:
Ted Kennedy was also – at the very least – guilty of manslaughter, and got off because of his influence and connections.
Never mind his supposed “liberalism”: let’s hope his passing marks the end of the Tammany Hall politics that the Kennedy clan (with one exception) was so much a part of.
No socialist should waste a tear.
Shiraz Socialist 
Jenny said,
August 27, 2009 at 5:21 am
Ooooh-er first time I’ve heard some actual stinging commentary here. I should say I disagree a bit: I found his promotion of universial health care and his opposition to the Iraq war very admirable.
Jenny said,
August 27, 2009 at 10:17 am
And why the odd anti Irish sentiment?
Jim Denham said,
August 27, 2009 at 12:34 pm
This is so-o-o good:
http://althouse.blogspot.com/2009/08/teddy-kennedy-is-gone.html#2807320990221549473
Scroll down eight comments to Greg Hlatky…
Jim Denham said,
August 27, 2009 at 12:39 pm
Jenny: I didn’t intend any of that to be anti-Irish. Sorry if that’s how it came over to you.
resistor said,
August 27, 2009 at 4:17 pm
Jenny mentions how Kennedy opposed the war in Iraq?
Jenny, that’s why Denham hates him.
ps The cartoon Denham uses is of a cat done up as an Irish caricature. Kennedy was of course Irish-American. Denham is a bigot.
Here’s some history for the unenlightened
http://chnm.gmu.edu/courses/omalley/120/alien/four.html
resistor said,
August 27, 2009 at 4:26 pm
pps
Dr Sues wasn’t always such a nice man
http://www.who-sucks.com/people/dr-seuss-sucks-7-racist-cartoons-from-the-doctor
check out number 6!
LeeCarr said,
August 27, 2009 at 4:56 pm
As a socialist I have to say I admired Ted Kennedy.
However, the accident in which he ran from the scene made his qualification for high office questionable to say the least.
Jim Denham said,
August 27, 2009 at 5:07 pm
“resistor” is certifiably mad. To disagree with my view of Ted Kennedy is one thing. To ascribe my criticisms of him to his opposition to the Iraq war (which I shared) is ludicrous. As is the suggestion that to criticise an Irish American bourgeois politician and to mention Tammany Hall makes me an anti-Irish bigot.
“resistor” reminds me of those Italian Americans who tried to claim that opposition to the mafia was motivated by racism.
Paul said,
August 27, 2009 at 6:44 pm
Denham,
I think you are a pile of horseshit and usually agree with resistor in your entertaining duels but this time I have to have sympathy with you. I wouldn’t consider it outlandish for someone on the left to criticise the Kennedy clan and resistor shows signs of your famous paranoia here.
Jim Denham said,
August 27, 2009 at 6:49 pm
Paul,
Thank you for your ringing endorsement.
resistor said,
August 27, 2009 at 10:17 pm
It’s one thing to criticise Ted Kennedy (although Denham merely throws mud) it is another to repost an anti-Irish cartoon.
Jim Denham said,
August 27, 2009 at 10:55 pm
“An anti-Irish cartoon”? It’s anti corrupt politicians who happened to be of Irish extraction, as far as I can see. The charge of racism in this instance holds about as much water as the UNISON leadership’s present case against four left-wing activists over the use of a “three wise monkeys” cartoon:
http://www.davidosler.com/2009/08/debus_kasab_kelly_and_muna_the.html
Neil said,
August 27, 2009 at 11:27 pm
Obviously, the fact that the tears of socialists will only pour in milliliters is a massive stain on his reputation, but I suspect you can’t name a single politician from that time who did as much to improve the material conditions of the American working class as Ted Kennedy.
In fact, from years ’62-09, I’m not sure there’s a single British socialist who comes close to his record, either.
Christ, my own criticisms were better than this, and I actually paid tribute to the man.
Harry Tuttle said,
August 28, 2009 at 4:08 am
resistor wrote:
It would be easier to take your charge of racism seriously if you hadn’t called for the murder of Israeli Jews, and supported the man responsible for the ethnic cleansing of Kosovars from their homeland. And then there are your recent comments about Anne Frank:
How can someone who hid in an attic become such a folklore hero is beyond me.
Classy, resistor, real classy.
Jenny said,
August 28, 2009 at 5:30 am
It’s okay, Jim. I’m torn on my feelings right now anyway. Kennedy did admit it was terrible he didn’t go for help and he tried to save her too.
resistor said,
August 28, 2009 at 12:06 pm
Denham writes,
‘ “An anti-Irish cartoon”? It’s anti corrupt politicians who happened to be of Irish extraction, as far as I can see. ‘
Which you associate with Ted Kennedy, ‘who happens to be of Irish extraction’.
So that’s OK then?
sackcloth and ashes said,
August 28, 2009 at 12:14 pm
‘resistor’, do you wake up every morning with the explicit intention of being a complete and utter cock, or does it come to you naturally?
Voltaire's Priest said,
August 28, 2009 at 12:36 pm
Transistor;
I bet you love Latuff the cartoonist, right?
maxdunbar said,
August 28, 2009 at 1:30 pm
After that Anne Frank comment he’s got one hell of a nerve accusing Denham of racism.
resistor said,
August 28, 2009 at 6:08 pm
Hmm, it seems that someone posted on Ha’aretz using my username.
I believe it’s called ‘spoofing’.
Since comrade Tuttle ‘found’ it, I suspect he was the one who put it there.
It’s nice to know my enemies stoop so low, it confirms everything I suspect about them.
For the record, the Anne Frank museum is the first place I visited when I went to Amsterdam. I found the experience deeply moving. Of course the heroes were those who hid the Frank family.
Jim Denham said,
August 28, 2009 at 7:01 pm
“An anti-Irish cartoon”? It’s anti corrupt politicians who happened to be of Irish extraction, as far as I can see. ‘
Which you associate with Ted Kennedy, ‘who happens to be of Irish extraction’.
So that’s OK then?
Yes, “resistor”, it’s quite obviously OK. For once we agree.
Jim Denham said,
August 28, 2009 at 7:42 pm
As for that Ha’aretz “spoof”: if it is a “spoof” then it’s a very subtle one.
resistor has denied that it’s really him, and I can’t disprove him on that. But the following (from the Ha’aretz comment that resistor claims is a “spoof”):
“How can someone who hid in an attic become such a folklore hero is beyond me”….
…does rather complement this:
“Of course the heroes were those who hid the Frank family”, from resistor’s last comment here.
maxdunbar said,
August 28, 2009 at 9:17 pm
I’ll take his word that it’s not him – but it’s funny that Resistor posits a conspiracy theory to explain the comment (‘I believe it’s called ’spoofing’…It’s nice to know my enemies stoop so low, it confirms everything I suspect about them’) rather than considering the more obvious explanation, which is that there is more than one person with that unoriginal web name.
resistor said,
August 28, 2009 at 9:50 pm
Firstly, I was responding to what was posted in my name on Ha’aretz. What Denham doesn’t understand is that the Frank family were doing their best to survive – as any of us would. They had no choice in the matter. Those who hid and fed them did so with no other imperative other than their consciences. They knew that they would be shot or sent to the camps if the Frank family were discovered. I am no hero, I would have done what the Frank family did, but could I emulate the bravery of their protectors? I hope I could,
Am I to believe that a frequent poster on this site just happened to come across that post? pull the other one. It’s a smear job worthy of Harry’s Place.
Jim Denham said,
August 28, 2009 at 10:07 pm
As I said, resistor, I can’t disprove you. But there’s no denying that the supposedly fake “resistor” has exactly the same views as you on the Frank question. You have not been misrepresented. So it’s a rather strange sort of “spoof”, eh?
Just out of interest: do you think the “spoof” misrepresents your views in any way? If so. how?
And if not: what, exactly is the point of a “spoof” that gives an accurate and unexaggerated depiction of its target’s views?
Voltaire's Priest said,
August 29, 2009 at 8:27 am
It’s nice to know my enemies stoop so low, it confirms everything I suspect about them.
Really nuts aintcha, big guy?
Harry Tuttle said,
August 29, 2009 at 12:02 pm
resistor wrote:
I didn’t spoof you, and I have no connections to the authors of this blog. Nor am I a frequent poster on this site, just a longtime reader, one that is rather fed up with your inane trolling.
resistor said,
August 29, 2009 at 1:14 pm
‘But there’s no denying that the supposedly fake “resistor” has exactly the same views as you on the Frank question.’
Lie, and you know it. My position is that the Frank family story is one of humanity, tragedy and heroism, and one which I would never use to make a cheap point. Unlike some of the people here.
You however are trying to divert attention from your bigotry in associating Senator Ted Kennedy with Tammany Hall (i.e local government) on the basis of his ethnicity.
Tuttle, so how did you come across such an obscure post on the Ha’aretz site? It doesn’t come up in any search engine – don’t pretend it does, I’ve tried every method. So tell us all how you did it?
You describe yourself as ‘one that is rather fed up with your inane trolling’. Which seems to be a fair description of your postings on this website and evidence of your motivation to smear me.
Sacha Ismail said,
August 29, 2009 at 1:45 pm
There is quite an interesting – not very substantial, but the best thing I could find – article here
http://www.swp.ie/index.php?page=350&dept=News
Harry Tuttle said,
August 29, 2009 at 2:19 pm
resistor wrote:
Harry Tuttle said,
August 29, 2009 at 2:20 pm
resistor wrote:
That was quite simple really, I googled “resistor” and “antisemitism” (without the quotes). The second page brought up the Ha’aretz link.
Jim Denham said,
August 29, 2009 at 2:35 pm
OK, resistor: you say I “lie” when I write that there appears to be no differences between the views of of the allegedly fake “resistor” and your own publicly-held views. Here’s what the fake “resistor” says on the Ha’aretz website:
*********************************************************************************************
“as so many anti-Semites think she and her diary are a hoax.”
Anne Frank is not a hoax, but neither is she the hero that people try to make her into.
People throughout the world who came under attack have had many young women and girls who took up arms and fought back with all possible means and ended up paying with their own lives for their heroic actions.
Algerian, Vietnamese, Palestinian, French, and Cuban history is full of such girls, but they don`t teach about them in schools.
How can someone who hid in an attic become such a folklore hero is beyond me.
*********************************************************************************************
Now then , *real* resistor: what part of that do you disagree with?
resistor said,
August 29, 2009 at 4:53 pm
Firstly, I disagree with the whole tone of the post which minimses the terrible experience of the Frank family.
As for this,
‘People throughout the world who came under attack have had many young women and girls who took up arms and fought back with all possible means and ended up paying with their own lives for their heroic actions.
Algerian, Vietnamese, Palestinian, French, and Cuban history is full of such girls, but they don`t teach about them in schools.’
This is completely irrelevant to Anne Frank’s ordeal and ignores her role as a witness to the crimes of the Nazis and the heroism of those who resisted them. Had she been in the Warsaw Ghetto I’m sure she would have picked up a gun like many her age and sex.
‘How can someone who hid in an attic become such a folklore hero is beyond me.’
To say she ‘hid in an attic’ again minimises her role as a witness, her fear and suffering. I have never used the word ‘folklore’ in a political context. This smells of holocaust denial vocabulary and was put in as a very subtle smear.
I don’t intend to spend any more time on these revolting lies.
So now I’d like to to do something you are trying to smokescreen, the nature of your post. Why did you associate Ted Kennedy, who was a national politician (and the member of the Senate with the most consistently liberal voting record) with Tammany Hall (i.e. local government) on the basis of his ethnicity?
Jim Denham said,
August 29, 2009 at 5:10 pm
OK resistor: you have clarified your position with regard to Ann Frank and I am only too happy to accept that as being truthful.
With regard to Ted Kennedy: he was a part of a corupt tradition of powerful sections of the US ruling class using ethnic and communal allegiencies to garner support and ensure that the most oppressed sections of tjne US working class remained tied Democratic Party by patronage. It’s a sick and corrupt MO and Ted Kennedy and his family were exemplars of it. The idea that socialists (and Marxists, like me, in particular) should not denounce such a system is, frankly, incredible. Tammany Hall is, happily more or less dead in the US now. “Galloway and “Respect” have attempted to raise something similar amongst Pakistani and Bangladeshi people in the UK, but I’m happy to report that “Respect” also seems to be on its last legs. Excellent! Now we can get back to class politics.
jack ward said,
August 30, 2009 at 2:28 am
Let’s face it folks. Ted Kennedy was a socialist. Ted kennedy was instrumental in taking money from people that worked and gave it to people that didn’t. That is known as spreading the wealth.{reditribution of wealth} His entire political career was leftist. He has a lot of people fooled because frankly, in this day and age many of us are not doing our homework when it comes to public servants. Yes, Ted was a public servant and treated like a king. As are many are ,if not all, in politics today. Evidentally, these individuals have hoisted themselves up on pedastels and may never come down to earth. I reiterate. Before you vote next time. Do your homework. Find out who these people are. And incidentally, get both sides of the story. NBC< ABC< CBS, etc. is only one side. And one side only if you know what I mean. Our country is in deep trouble right now because of incompetent, greedy, and power hungry egoists, who are running our country down. Pacifiying to small radical groups for votes. Do your homework folks, and save our country.
Matt said,
August 30, 2009 at 8:16 am
Now that’s what I call a spoof! Ted ‘Tammany Hall’ Kennedy a socialist, laughing my half-Irish arse off!