Fine, okay, it's a blog already!

Tis a sad day for me, and a passing of an era for America. I woke up this morning to the news that Ted Kennedy passed.

I am not sure how many of you know that my first name comes from my dad's respect for JFK. So, even though I never lived in the time of John, or even Robert, I've always been intrigued by the Kennedy family. So, my only real ties to them - tenuous as they are - are watching Teddy do his thing in the Senate through the years.

The Boston Globe is carrying much of the news related to his life and passing, starting here with his obituary.

Time covers his career and hits the highlights of his legislative legacy:

Everybody was wrong. Ted Kennedy would never reach the White House....But his failure to get to the presidency opened the way to the true fulfillment of his gifts, which was to become one of the greatest legislators in American history....

Because Kennedy never made it to the finish line, he never had to endure a post-presidential twilight. Instead, by the time of his death on Aug. 25 in Hyannis Port at the age of 77, he had 46 working years in Congress, time enough to leave his imprint on everything from the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act of 2009, a law that expands support for national community-service programs. Over the years, Kennedy was a force behind the Freedom of Information Act, the Occupational Safety and Health Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act. He helped Soviet dissidents and fought apartheid. Above all, he conducted a four-decade crusade for universal health coverage, a poignant one toward the end as the country watched a struggle with a brain tumor. But along the way, he vastly expanded the network of neighborhood clinics, virtually invented the COBRA system for portable insurance and helped create the laws that provide Medicare prescriptions and family leave.

Whether you're a proud Democrat or the most ignorant Rethug, you're life has been bettered by Ted Kennedy's work. And yes, the hatemongers are talking. But I refuse to focus on them today. Let their hate be ignored and shunned by all good people who have respect, even for someone they didn't agree with. I remember my dad popping me a good one when Nixon died. You have to have respect for the dead, I was told. He was right then. He was right when Reagan passed.

Hopefully somewhere Republican fathers are teaching their children the same lesson today.

A lot of people are saying great things about our lost leader. None have done so better than Joe Biden did this morning:

That said, Harry Reid stepped up today, and I'm proud to have him represent me for at least these words:

"Because of Ted Kennedy, more young children could afford to become healthy. More young adults could afford to become students. More of our oldest citizens and our poorest citizens could get the care they need to live longer, fuller lives. More minorities, women and immigrants could realize the rights our founding documents promised them. And more Americans could be proud of their country."