The People of the Commonwealth of Massachussets have spoken. Ted Kennedy has an immediate successor. Well, the people haven't exactly spoken. Ted Kennedy gave his Democrats marching orders before going to that great swimming hole in the sky. "Change state law and get a Mini Me into office in time to vote on socialized medicine!" And it came to pass that the legislature did that and the governor signed the bill.
The seat formerly held by Kennedy for forty-seven years has been bestowed upon Paul Kirk. The whole affair, from start to finish, stinks of partisan politics, thwarting the will of the people, and changing the nature of the Massachusetts election and succession process overnight (for the second time in a decade) solely to keep the entrenched Democrats in power.
In a mad rush, the Massachusetts legislature carried out Teddy's wishes. Previously, Massachusetts law provided that in the event of a vacancy in the office of Senator, the office was to remain vacant until the legislature authorized a special election and the governor set a date. Some states have that system, more have the system that went into place in Massachusetts last week. So what's the complaint? As we discussed on these pages last month as Teddy was fading into his final reward, the system just tossed out was a direct result of the Kennedy/Kerry machine's last change in Massachusetts law. And in both cases, the people of the Commonwealth were never heard from.
You see, the last time the Senator wanted a change, there was a Republican in the Massachusetts state house, and the Kennedys were sure as hell not going to allow him to put a Republican Senator into Congress. So they hastily threw together a new law in the legislature leaving the seat vacant until the Democrats could elect their own man three to six months down the road. Better to have only one Senator than to have a Republican incumbent to face at the special election. The people of Massachussets were not consulted.
And they weren't consulted this time either. The chances that Kennedy would have been replaced at a special election by another liberal Democrat approach 100%. But it would be too late for his replacement to get into Congress in time to vote on Obama socialized medicine. So in his barely living will, Kennedy ordered his entrenched minions to change the law, preferably before the flight of angels took him to his rest, but afterwards if necessary.
So the legislature once again hastily changed the law, giving the governor (left-wing Obama supporter Deval Patrick) the power to appoint a Senator and to set an election 90 days hence. But the legislature did not provide for immediate appointment, so the governor simply declared an emergency and did it anyway. And dead Ted gets his way. Of course the Democrats are certainly willing to let the people make a fair choice, since everybody knows it's going to be a Democrat who gets appointed, right?
Wrong. The politicians in the capital had several names in the hopper, and Democratic caucuses and statewide political activists also suggested viable nominees. And they settled on a widely-popular elder Massachussets statesman--George Dukakis. However foolish he may have looked with his pinhead sticking up out of an army tank during the Presidential election, he remained a much beloved figure in Massachusetts. He is known to support Obamacare, and had an extremely liberal record while in office.
But once again, the hand of Ted Kennedy reached out from the grave, with some help from his extended family. Adding political manipulation on top of political manipulation, the Kennedys decided that Dukakis just wouldn't do. It must be either a Kennedy, or a Kennedy intimate. And so it was. Paul Kirk was the choice of Kennedy's second wife, Victoria Reggie Kennedy, Ted Kennedy Jr., and Rep. Patrick Kennedy of Rhode Island. He was one of Ted's closest confidantes and advisers. At age 71, it is unlikely that he will attempt to hold onto the seat at the election, giving the Kennedy machine plenty of time to come up with a younger candidate whom they can control.
So despite a pending lawsuit filed by Republican legislators to stop the appointment from going forward (a judge rejected the suit at close of business on Friday), the annointing has gone forward with undue haste. With the court case still under advisement on Friday, crazy Joe Biden showed up in the US Capitol to swear the new Senator in at 3:55 PM. A large contingent of the Kennedy family was there, along with a substantial number of Kennedy's staff, prominent Democrats, and a few Republicans Congress critters. Noticeably missing from the whole affair were the people of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Ted Reaches Out From The Grave
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12 comments:
Wow. And people wonder why they think their vote doesn't count? They're not even pretending to care what the people think. Cripes...
Ah yes, it's banana republic time in the old U.S. of A. Funny how it's always the democrats that end up using tactics normally reserved for dictators.
Well, I suppose there is nothing illegal, but it does make one vaguely nauseous. These things always seem to fall on the Democrat side. I remember Republicans getting screwed with Frank Lautenberg in New Jersey several years back.
CirspyRice: Alexander Hamilton was supposed to have said "the people is a great beast." I think it was more likely one of the Kennedys.
Andrew: I'm sure you're right. I really can't think of a situation where Republicans have ever done anything like this, let alone twice in a decade in one state alone.
Tennessee: You have the essence of it. The Democrats love to skate on the thin edge of illegality. That's why they're the ones most often caught crossing the edge. Democrats will hide behind layers of conflicting laws in order to get what they want. Right or wrong has nothing to do with it.
The majority of Massachusetts voters must be okay with this because they continue to vote in these incestuous politicians. And the Kennedys don't even bother to hide the fact that they manipulate the system any way it suits them. They wear it like a badge of pride. What a soap opera.
WriterX: You're absolutely right, and that's why it's called The People's Republic of Massachusetts. I even mentioned it in the article. But you would think even a Democrat or two would object to being told what to do and how to do it once in awhile. I know I've experienced events in my life where somebody made a decision for me, and even though I would have made the same decision, I objected strenuously to someone taking my autonomy away from me.
We must remember, “it’s for the children.”
I have been misquoted. What I said was "Aren't the people a really great beast?!" I was very upbeat.
StanH: You're right. I forgot. The children are safe, and all is well. Ignore the article. LOL
Why didn't they just program a Teddy Kennedy computer model? Vote for all tax increases, against any tax cuts. Bring 2 or 3 billion dollars in earmarks back to Boston each year and you're all set.
It's not like the program would have to navigate a car across a bridge or anything.
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