Kennedy vs. Kennedy: New Version is Anti-American

George C. Landrith

On January 20, 1961, at his presidential inauguration John F. Kennedy spoke eloquently about his and America’s commitment to liberty. Forty-four years later on January 27, 2005, Senator Edward M. Kennedy delivered a prepared speech making it clear he does not share his brother’s love of freedom or commitment to its preservation. Senator Ted Kennedy has spent a lifetime in the shadow of his older brother, John Kennedy. Now we know why. John was a patriot. Teddy is a political hack.

But don’t take my word for it. Let’s compare their words. John Kennedy said,

“Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and success of liberty. This much we pledge – and more…. United, there is little we cannot do…. Divided, there is little we can do…. In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility – I welcome it.”

Just a few days before the first democratic elections in Iraq, Senator Ted Kennedy said, “The U.S. military presence [in Iraq] has become part of the problem, not part of the solution.” He praised other nations of the Middle East for being “independent” – even though aside from Israel, they are not free and do not hold elections. But he noted that Iraq “is now beginning the 21st Century under American occupation.” John Kennedy would have seen America as a liberator. Ted Kennedy sees America as an occupier.

What a stark comparison! John Kennedy was a defender of freedom. Ted Kennedy embarrassed himself, further stained his family’s reputation, and firmly cemented his place among the “blame America first” crowd.

It is interesting that Aljazeera, the terrorist news network, gives front-page coverage to Senator Kennedy’s anti-American rants. The network that seems to be the first to receive video of cowardly terrorists beheading bound hostages loves to quote Ted Kennedy too. Aljazeera quotes Kennedy arguing that Iraq is clearly another “Vietnam.” Every time, someone applies the “Vietnam” label to Iraq, the terrorists take courage. They know that America was not defeated on the battlefields in Vietnam, but on the streets of America as the anti-war crowd broke America’s will and vilified American soldiers under the leadership of John Kerry.

Likewise, terrorists understand that they cannot defeat American troops in streets of Iraq. But terrorists hope they can break America’s resolve on our streets at home. John Kerry and Howard Dean gave the terrorists hope during the presidential elections. Now Ted Kennedy gives them hope. And America’s soldiers are left to wonder why a U.S. Senator would talk them, the mission, and their accomplishments down.

Can anyone imagine John F. Kennedy giving aid and comfort to terrorists? Ted Kennedy asserts, “The war in Iraq has become a war against the American occupation.” He condescendingly explains that Iraqi people “yearn for a country that is not a permanent battlefield and for a future free from permanent occupation.” Would John Kennedy refer to American soldiers as occupiers rather than liberators?

Of the prisoner abuses at Abu Ghraib, Ted Kennedy said, “Saddam's torture chambers reopened under new management: U.S. management.” When Saddam Hussein was managing Abu Ghraib prisoners were savagely beaten, dismembered, and eventually killed. There are mass graves at Abu Ghraib where the tortured bodies of thousands were dumped. While there were abuses by a few American soldiers, it is simply outrageous to equate those comparatively modest abuses with the sort of torture, beatings, and killings that Saddam inflicted. But to Ted Kennedy, the consummate political hack, making such absurd comparisons is all in a days work. But John Kennedy would not have engaged in such absurdly false America bashing.

What has happened to the Kennedy clan and their slide from American patriot to anti-American political hack is a microcosm of what has been happening to the ever-leftward lurching Democratic Party. If you don’t believe me, just ask retired Senator Zell Miller (D-Ga.)

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Mr. Landrith is a graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law, where he was Business Editor of the Virginia Journal of Law and Politics. He had a successful law practice in business and litigation. In 1994 and 1996, Mr. Landrith was a candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia's Fifth Congressional District. He served on the Albemarle County School Board. Mr. Landrith is an adjunct professor at the George Mason School of Law. He is recognized as an authority on constitutional law and jurisprudence, federalism, global warming, and property rights.

george@ff.org