A few days ago I posted on BYL’s Facebook page a link to a short Dissent piece on Ted Kennedy. (That piece can be found here.) That piece elicited response from a friend of mine. To get some conversation going here I’ll paraphrase his comments below.
- Dissent often quotes Richard Rorty who, in praise of the magazine, called it the most important publication for the American left. So when did they become “…fodder for limo liberals (snark intended)?”
- On Kennedy’s effectiveness, it turns out the “lion” was “willing to get into bed with the hunter after it was done roaring.” (Read this as meaning that compared to other liberals and progressives Kennedy was able to compromise and get things done.)
- Finally, on Kennedy being more liberal than his brothers, it’s perhaps the case of comparing people out of context. That is, “his brothers had a very different compromise environment.” (On this point, think of comparing athletes against other athletes in their own generation instead of comparing, say, Rod Laver against Pete Sampras against Roger Federer.)
So, food for thought. Things to mull over, etc.
