If you read the newspapers or watch the news, you will encounter a long list of accomplishments by the late Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass. One thing you’re less likely to hear, however, is that in his death, Kennedy proved Rush Limbaugh right.
In March, the talk-show host and bête noire of progressives everywhere said that the health-care bill wending its way through Congress would eventually be dubbed the “Ted Kennedy Memorial Health Care Bill.” At the time, the official position of the Democratic Party was outrage and disgust.
Fast-forward to a few hours after the announcement of Kennedy’s death. Suddenly, naming the bill after Kennedy would be a moving tribute.
ABC News reports that “the idea of naming the legislation for Kennedy has been quietly circulating for months” but was kicked into overdrive by Sen. Robert Byrd, the Democratic Party’s eldest statesman. Intriguingly, this suggests that either Democrats already had the idea when Limbaugh floated it, which would mean their protests were just so much opportunistic and cynical posturing, or they actually got the idea from Limbaugh himself, which would be too ironic for a Tom Wolfe novel.
But that Kennedy’s death should be marked by cynicism, opportunism, and irony is not shocking, given that these qualities are now the hallmarks of the party he largely defined.
The determination of the Democratic Party to exploit Kennedy’s death for political gain puts the political commentator who doesn’t wish to speak ill of the dead in something of a bind. So let us be clear that there is no evidence whatsoever that Kennedy himself — or any Kennedy — would object to such a ploy.
My only objection is the notion that somehow anyone but partisan Democrats should be expected to cave in to the “Do it for Teddy” bullying. To listen to some liberals, one gets the sense that conservatives should surrender to something that violates their fundamental principles out of deference to the very man liberals celebrate for never abandoning his fundamental principles. No one expected Ted Kennedy to become a champion of free markets out of deference to Ronald Reagan’s memory.
Now, if liberals want to rally their own troops by putting Kennedy’s name on the bill, that is their right, even if it will likely result in an even more unpopular bill than the ones now under consideration. I suspect, however, that they will be disappointed to discover that the currency of the Kennedy name purchases far less than it once did, thanks in large part to what Ted Kennedy did with it.
Jonah Goldberg is a syndicated columnist. A version of this commentary was originally published by Tribune Media Services.
