Watching…..for the last time…..the beginning of final rites for a Kennedy brother.
So very glad this one died a natural death and lived into the fullness of age.
I was glued to the TV for days for the rites for President John Kennedy and for
Senator Robert Kennedy. For the President: Robert, Jackie and Teddy leading
the march of distinguished mourners, the riderless horse with boots reversed,
the beat of the drum as the procession passed along, the silent crowds lining
the streets, John and Caroline standing with their mother, John saluting his
father, the scene at the burial with Jackie lost and confused.
Then Robert and the wild scene in the hotel kitchen where he was gunned down.
The funeral in St. Patrick’s and Teddy’s moving eulogy, the funeral train and the
crowds lining the tracks.
The Kennedys and their ideals and escapades have been a huge part of my life
from age 16. Wild and reckless though they were, I find them and their ideals
more powerful than Regan, McCain, Bush, and the conservatives.
Max drove my mother and me out to almost the end of Cape Cod, on a lovely
sunny day like today, along the route the Kennedy cortege is taking. Then,
we drove back to Boston in storms and tornadoes—we could not see the road
in the pouring rain; the wind almost blew us off the road.
Today I say—- I am glad I was able to follow the Kennedys and their lives. Hooray
for Liberals!! Hooray for humans who reach out to help the weak, the poor, the
uneducated, the young, the powerless!!! One can be conservative without being
mean, petty, hateful, spiteful, or cruel. I reject with my whole heart the mean-spirited
and hateful right-wingers of today. I am proud to be a liberal.
From the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language
Liberal
adj.
1.
1. Not limited to or by established, traditional, orthodox, or authoritarian attitudes, views, or dogmas; free from bigotry.
2. Favoring proposals for reform, open to new ideas for progress, and tolerant of the ideas and behavior of others; broad-minded.
3. Of, relating to, or characteristic of liberalism.
4. Liberal Of, designating, or characteristic of a political party founded on or associated with principles of social and political liberalism, especially in Great Britain, Canada, and the United States.
2.
1. Tending to give freely; generous: a liberal benefactor.
2. Generous in amount; ample: a liberal serving of potatoes.
3. Not strict or literal; loose or approximate: a liberal translation.
4. Of, relating to, or based on the traditional arts and sciences of a college or university curriculum: a liberal education.
5.
1. Archaic. Permissible or appropriate for a person of free birth; befitting a lady or gentleman.
2. Obsolete. Morally unrestrained; licentious.
n.
1. A person with liberal ideas or opinions.
2. Liberal A member of a Liberal political party.
[Middle English, generous, from Old French, from Latin līberālis, from līber, free.]
liberally lib’er·al·ly adv.
liberalness lib’er·al·ness n.
SYNONYMS liberal, bounteous, bountiful, freehanded, generous, handsome, munificent, openhanded. These adjectives mean willing or marked by a willingness to give unstintingly: a liberal backer of the arts; a bounteous feast; bountiful compliments; a freehanded host; a generous donation; a handsome offer; a munificent gift; fond and openhanded grandparents. See also synonyms at broad-minded.
ANTONYM stingy
