Outrageous!

Ted Kennedy died. People die everyday. Had Ted Kennedy been forced to live under the health plan that will probably bear his name, more than likely he would have been dead months ago.

One of things that may further stain an already stained legacy, is Kennedy's request to the Democratic controlled Massachusetts legislature to change a law that he had requested to change in 2004. In 2004, when it looked like John Kerry was going to be elected President and vacate his Massachusetts Senate seat, the current law allowed Republican Governor Mitt Romney to appoint a successor to the US Senate. Fearing Romney would appoint a Republican to the seat, the Democratic legislature, at Senator Kennedy's request, crafted a law requiring an election be held to fill empty US Senate seats. At that time in Massachusetts, Democrats usually won elections.

Two weeks prior to his death, fearing the US Senate would lose their 60 seat majority prior to passing healthcare legislation, not to mention fearing an election may not insure a Democrat would be elected, Senator Kennedy asked the Massachusetts legislature to change the law back to what it was before. Why? Because the Governor is now a Democrat and would immediately appoint another Democrat to fill the seat vacated by Kennedy's impending death.

This, to me, is outrageous. Elected Representatives are supposed to make laws for the good of the people they represent. They are not supposed to make laws for the advantage of one political party over another. This personifies what's wrong with our political system. And it also shows how Kennedy himself viewed the role of elected representatives. If this law is changed again, which more than likely it will, then every concerned citizen in the state of Massachusetts should get off their butt on election day and throw the bums out.

May Ted Kennedy rest in peace.