Political scientists gauge ideology in part by comparing the annual ratings by the Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) with the ratings by the American Conservative Union (ACU).[231] Kennedy had a lifetime liberal 90 percent score from the ADA through 2004,[232] while the ACU awarded Kennedy a lifetime conservative rating of 2 percent through 2008.[233] Using another metric, Kennedy has a lifetime average liberal score of 88.7 percent, according to a National Journal analysis that places him ideologically as the third-most liberal senator of all those in office in 2009.[234] A 2004 analysis by political scientists Joshua D. Clinton of Princeton University, Simon Jackman and Doug Rivers of Stanford University examined some of the difficulties in making this kind of analysis, and found Kennedy likely to be the 8th-to-15th-most liberal Senator during the 108th Congress.[235] The Almanac of American Politics rates congressional votes as liberal or conservative on the political spectrum, in three policy areas: economic, social, and foreign. For 2005–2006, Kennedy's average ratings were as follows: the economic rating was 91 percent liberal and 0 percent conservative, the social rating was 89 percent liberal and 5 percent conservative, and the foreign rating was 96 percent liberal and 0 percent conservative.[236]
Various interest groups have given Kennedy scores or grades as to how well his votes align with the positions of each group.[237] The American Civil Liberties Union gives him an 84 percent lifetime score as of 2009.[238] During the 1990s and 2000s, NARAL Pro-Choice America and Planned Parenthood typically gave Kennedy ratings of 100 percent, while the National Right to Life Committee typically gave him a rating of less than 10 percent.[237] The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence gave Kennedy a lifetime rating of 100 percent through 2002, while National Rifle Association gave Kennedy a lifetime grade of 'F' (failing) as of 2006.[237]
I believe his political epitaph should have been written July 18, 1969, the day his behavior led directly to the untimely death of Mary Jo Kopechne at the Chappaquiddick Bridge.
Until that moment, as the surviving brother of an assassinated president and an assassinated senator-presidential candidate, he had been an object of love and pity for an entire nation. Today, I can scarcely muster the pity.
Over four decades he has served as a kind of "enemy within" the American political system – attempting to elicit the support of the Soviet Union against President Reagan's policies in the 1980s, ignoring the tax-cutting prescription of his elder brother, failing to learn the real lessons of Vietnam, failing even to learn the lessons of his own brother's errors of appeasement in the Bay of Pigs, practicing his own unique brand of plantation racism and blaming America for all the problems of the world.
That's Ted Kennedy.
That even one of the 50 states would deem him worthy of serving in the U.S. Senate for most of his life is something of a national disgrace.
Nevertheless, maybe because of his alcohol-addled brain or his unfulfilled ego, occasionally Ted Kennedy has demonstrated a kind of candor that is in short supply in Washington.
It may have been intellectual frustration that caused Kennedy to admit what he was 13 years ago – and what he remains today.
Ted Kennedy is and was a socialist – and he actually admitted it on the floor of the Senate Jan. 20, 1995.
I've never seen this revelation before, though it has been a matter of public record all these years – published, as it were, in the Congressional Record. I was amazed to find it in a new book by Republican political consultant Marc Nuttle called "Moment of Truth" – a book, I might add, that is a thoroughly engaging read.
Here is how the Kennedy admission came about.
Economist Milton Friedman was testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee in favor of a national constitutional amendment for a balanced budget. Kennedy argued that a requirement for a balanced budget would restrict the federal government's power and its ability to spend – thus, he said, Washington's role in more fairly and equitably distributing wealth, goods and services.
"Senator, socialism hasn't worked in 6,000 years of recorded history," explained Friedman. "Why won't you give up on it?"
Kennedy rose to his feet, according to Nuttle, who attended the hearing, and replied: "It hasn't worked in 6,000 years of recorded history because it didn't have me to run it."
It is unlikely Barack Obama, whom Kennedy today supports for the presidency, would make such a candid statement. It is unlikely Hillary Clinton, who is every bit as committed to socialism as Obama, would ever make such an admission. It is unlikely John McCain, who is promoting a globalist form of socialism with his plans to take on the phantom crisis of manmade catastrophic climate change, would do so. Yet, all three are, indeed, promoting socialism to one extent or another.
Surely Kennedy is not as sophisticated in articulating his position as the others. Surely Kennedy, with his comfortable, unchallenged position as the senior senator from Massachusetts, doesn't need to be so tactful. Surely Kennedy avoids, for the most part, such heated admissions that he believes socialism can work under the right kind of skillful leadership.
But, in essence, most of our political leaders today have fallen victim to this idea that socialism can succeed under the right circumstances. Most of our media leaders believe it. Most of our cultural leaders believe it. And, sad to say, too many ordinary Americans have fallen prey to this seductive, but evil, ideology.
At least Ted Kennedy deserves credit for admitting – if even just that once
Відповіді
2009.08.26 | Адвокат ...
Шкода.
2009.08.26 | Sych
Шкода що не доробив справжній комунізьм?
Political positionsMain article: Political positions of Ted Kennedy
Political scientists gauge ideology in part by comparing the annual ratings by the Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) with the ratings by the American Conservative Union (ACU).[231] Kennedy had a lifetime liberal 90 percent score from the ADA through 2004,[232] while the ACU awarded Kennedy a lifetime conservative rating of 2 percent through 2008.[233] Using another metric, Kennedy has a lifetime average liberal score of 88.7 percent, according to a National Journal analysis that places him ideologically as the third-most liberal senator of all those in office in 2009.[234] A 2004 analysis by political scientists Joshua D. Clinton of Princeton University, Simon Jackman and Doug Rivers of Stanford University examined some of the difficulties in making this kind of analysis, and found Kennedy likely to be the 8th-to-15th-most liberal Senator during the 108th Congress.[235] The Almanac of American Politics rates congressional votes as liberal or conservative on the political spectrum, in three policy areas: economic, social, and foreign. For 2005–2006, Kennedy's average ratings were as follows: the economic rating was 91 percent liberal and 0 percent conservative, the social rating was 89 percent liberal and 5 percent conservative, and the foreign rating was 96 percent liberal and 0 percent conservative.[236]
Various interest groups have given Kennedy scores or grades as to how well his votes align with the positions of each group.[237] The American Civil Liberties Union gives him an 84 percent lifetime score as of 2009.[238] During the 1990s and 2000s, NARAL Pro-Choice America and Planned Parenthood typically gave Kennedy ratings of 100 percent, while the National Right to Life Committee typically gave him a rating of less than 10 percent.[237] The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence gave Kennedy a lifetime rating of 100 percent through 2002, while National Rifle Association gave Kennedy a lifetime grade of 'F' (failing) as of 2006.[237]
2009.08.26 | Адвокат ...
Ні. Просто пішла з життя людина, що уособлювала певний
історичний етап.Моє "шкода",-- не ідеольоґіне, а людське.
2009.08.26 | Sych
Трохи застаріла стаття, але добре написано(/)
Ted Kennedy's moment of candorPosted: April 03, 2008
1:00 am Eastern
© 2009
It's no secret I don't like Ted Kennedy.
I believe his political epitaph should have been written July 18, 1969, the day his behavior led directly to the untimely death of Mary Jo Kopechne at the Chappaquiddick Bridge.
Until that moment, as the surviving brother of an assassinated president and an assassinated senator-presidential candidate, he had been an object of love and pity for an entire nation. Today, I can scarcely muster the pity.
Over four decades he has served as a kind of "enemy within" the American political system – attempting to elicit the support of the Soviet Union against President Reagan's policies in the 1980s, ignoring the tax-cutting prescription of his elder brother, failing to learn the real lessons of Vietnam, failing even to learn the lessons of his own brother's errors of appeasement in the Bay of Pigs, practicing his own unique brand of plantation racism and blaming America for all the problems of the world.
That's Ted Kennedy.
That even one of the 50 states would deem him worthy of serving in the U.S. Senate for most of his life is something of a national disgrace.
Nevertheless, maybe because of his alcohol-addled brain or his unfulfilled ego, occasionally Ted Kennedy has demonstrated a kind of candor that is in short supply in Washington.
It may have been intellectual frustration that caused Kennedy to admit what he was 13 years ago – and what he remains today.
Ted Kennedy is and was a socialist – and he actually admitted it on the floor of the Senate Jan. 20, 1995.
I've never seen this revelation before, though it has been a matter of public record all these years – published, as it were, in the Congressional Record. I was amazed to find it in a new book by Republican political consultant Marc Nuttle called "Moment of Truth" – a book, I might add, that is a thoroughly engaging read.
Here is how the Kennedy admission came about.
Economist Milton Friedman was testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee in favor of a national constitutional amendment for a balanced budget. Kennedy argued that a requirement for a balanced budget would restrict the federal government's power and its ability to spend – thus, he said, Washington's role in more fairly and equitably distributing wealth, goods and services.
"Senator, socialism hasn't worked in 6,000 years of recorded history," explained Friedman. "Why won't you give up on it?"
Kennedy rose to his feet, according to Nuttle, who attended the hearing, and replied: "It hasn't worked in 6,000 years of recorded history because it didn't have me to run it."
It is unlikely Barack Obama, whom Kennedy today supports for the presidency, would make such a candid statement. It is unlikely Hillary Clinton, who is every bit as committed to socialism as Obama, would ever make such an admission. It is unlikely John McCain, who is promoting a globalist form of socialism with his plans to take on the phantom crisis of manmade catastrophic climate change, would do so. Yet, all three are, indeed, promoting socialism to one extent or another.
Surely Kennedy is not as sophisticated in articulating his position as the others. Surely Kennedy, with his comfortable, unchallenged position as the senior senator from Massachusetts, doesn't need to be so tactful. Surely Kennedy avoids, for the most part, such heated admissions that he believes socialism can work under the right kind of skillful leadership.
But, in essence, most of our political leaders today have fallen victim to this idea that socialism can succeed under the right circumstances. Most of our media leaders believe it. Most of our cultural leaders believe it. And, sad to say, too many ordinary Americans have fallen prey to this seductive, but evil, ideology.
At least Ted Kennedy deserves credit for admitting – if even just that once
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