Ted Kennedy Proposes Monument to Himself

[Broken Glass Can]

Ted Kennedy Proposes Monument to Himself

Teddy Kennedy is raising a reported $3.5 million to pay for an oral history project he conceived that will memorialize his life.


The project is unique in that it will be the first ever oral history of a sitting U.S. senator.

The project will be carried out by the Miller Center for Public Affairs at the University of Virginia, which has created oral histories of President Jimmy Carter and is doing others on presidents George H.W. Bush, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton.


According to the Boston Globe, however, it has never made a senator the subject of a historical study.


The newspaper reported that the Miller Center will interview more than 100 of Kennedy's former and current staff members, colleagues from both sides of the aisle, family and other notable figures who have known him.


Kennedy himself will generously donate 75 hours of his time for talks with the center. Stephen Knott, associate professor at the Miller Center, told the Globe that Kennedy will not control who is interviewed or what questions are asked.


"This is very unusual," historian Michael R. Beschloss told the senator's hometown newspaper. "Even an important senator or president will write a memoir or do some interviews with a ghost writer, and that is basically it," he explained.


Knott promised that the project would not avoid the more unpleasant aspects of Kennedy's life and career. While the questions have not been written yet, historians said they expect that the center would address the Chappaquiddick episode and other nonpolicy-related matters.


"The way we've approached it is that nothing is off-limits," Knott said. "The study is going to cover the whole of his life, including his pre-Senate years and up to the present," Knott told the Globe, which noted that despite the many books, articles and movies that deal with the Kennedy family, Teddy's interviews will probably reveal new information or anecdotes.


And while Knott said Kennedy will have no control over the final product, his funding and heavy involvement in the project gives him an unusual opportunity to create a lasting monument to himself.

[tek]

I can't wait for the part about him and his nephews accosting women while drunk [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[jakethebake]

Thanks. Funniest thing I've read this week. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[coughman1975]

he is such a humble man. what an idiot. if you wanna ask me, and you dont, anyone who wants to bild a momunent to themselves should be voted out of office...

[jakethebake]

[ QUOTE ]
he is such a humble man. what an idiot. if you wanna ask me, and you dont, anyone who wants to bild a momunent to themselves should be voted out of office...

[/ QUOTE ]
Well none of the other idiotic things he's done have gotten him voted out so... [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

[Zeno]

[ QUOTE ]
Well none of the other idiotic things he's done have gotten him voted out so...

[/ QUOTE ]

Proof positive that mainly morons populate the state of Massachusetts.

If the above news article does not tip everyone in the direction of misanthropy, then you are not a thinking human being.

Ted Kennedy is an obese, drunken, vile, puss-filled bag of inane demagoguery, devoid of even a molecule of human decency, and steeped in so much hypocrisy and megalomania that he does not even realize what a farce and caricature he really is - and neither do his supporters.

Ted Kennedy should be tossed into a huge vat of 100% reagent grade hydrochloride acid. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Le Misanthrope

[KJS]

This is certainly a very egotistical gesture, but as an archivist I think its a good thing. I wish more important decisionmakers would have an eye towards history. It will certainly improve our understanding of today's era in the future. Regardless of whether or not it turns out to be a biased exercise, for the bias itself and how it exhibits itself will be worthy of study in addition to the things that can be corroborated elsewhere.

KJS

[jakethebake]

[ QUOTE ]
This is certainly a very egotistical gesture, but as an archivist I think its a good thing. I wish more important decisionmakers would have an eye towards history. It will certainly improve our understanding of today's era in the future. Regardless of whether or not it turns out to be a biased exercise, for the bias itself and how it exhibits itself will be worthy of study in addition to the things that can be corroborated elsewhere. KJS

[/ QUOTE ]

I can't imagine he'll say anything more meaningful than the crap he's been blabbering over the last 30 years, but I suppose it may be an opportunity for posterity to learn from the mistakes of their past. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

[KJS]

As I understand it, he is not the only, or even main, subject of the interviews. Having some experience with projects of this sort, it is my guess that many more people will be interviewed and will say much more than him.

It is proper for me to infer that only people whose politics you agree with should leave historical documents for study by future generations?

KJS

[jakethebake]

The way he mumbles and slurs, I wonder if anyone will even understand him on tape?