Ted Kennedy RIP

The end of an era for sure. Aside from nostalgia for a figure from a lost age of promise, his departure means that Ireland no longer has a friend in high places. It also means that an ever-dependable liberal voice in the Senate is now silenced. Forget the mean-spirited obituaries, he made a mistake and paid for it by losing the presidency. You hear talk of his drinking and womanising. So what. If I had a monster for a father and three of my brothers had died violently I might also be tempted to reach for the bottle occasionally, and overreact to a well-turned ankle. He fought the good fight tirelessly in the Senate and as one of his final acts had the prescience to endorse Barack Obama and live to see him bring his brothers' political philosophy back to the White House.