Teddy Kennedy was capable of partying like a Frat boy, as are most men of power and privilege. Something sanctimonious conservatives would constantly say proved he had no moral values. But his "values" weren’t just empty campaign slogans like spew from the right. He wouldn’t give a speech making promises to retirees in the morning and conspire to steal their life savings in the afternoon.
He was a rich kid who didn’t need to work just like George Bush. The difference is that Kennedy wanted to leave a legacy of peace and healing, not a trail of death and suffering. Was he a perfect man? Of course not, but he wasn’t a cynical smirking hypocrite. He had plenty and he didn’t need to steal more to prove he was the bigger man. He wasn’t afraid of the unwashed masses, he didn’t hold them in contempt and he didn't see them as so much fodder for the mill.
He was a Liberal like the men of history that created the United States. They weren’t perfect either but they and he changed things for the better. In the end that is all you can ask of a public servant.
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