Kara Kennedy, 51, Daughter of Late Sen. Ted Kennedy, Dies at DC Health Club; Eleanor Mondale, 51, Succumbs to Brain Cancer

      The eldest child of Sen. Ted Kennedy and his wife Joan, Kara Kennedy, has died at a Washington health club.

      Her brother, Patrick, has confirmed the family’s latest loss. A cancer survivor, Kara Kennedy was very keen on helath and fitness. Patrick Kennedy believes that her cancer struggles over the past decade had taken their toll on her physically, and said “She is with Dad now”.

      At 51, she had been married to Michael Allen in 1990 and since divorced, and the couple have two children, Grace (17) and Max (14).

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      News has also come that Eleanor Mondale, 51, daughter of Sen. Walter Mondale, has also died today. Eleanor had suffered from a brain tumor. The Senator released the following statement:

“Joan and I must report that our wonderful daughter, Eleanor Mondale Poling, after her long and gutsy battle against cancer, went up to heaven last night to be with her angel,” the former vice president said in a statement emailed to friends. “Thank you for all your friendship, you will hear more about plans to celebrate her life soon.”

Ted Kennedy’s Files Reveal that he Rented Brothels for “Meetings”

Ted Kennedy met with communists in South America too.
The Daily Mail reported:

Late U.S. senator Ted Kennedy has been accused of renting an entire Chilean brothel and seeking meetings with communists who had left-wing views.

The information came to light after a Freedom of Information request by Judicial Watch - the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption – who put pressure on the FBI to release the material.

Their file on the late senator, who died from brain cancer in August 2009, was released but contained a large amount of blacked out information – until now.

The statements previously withheld include accusations that during a tour of several Latin American countries he ‘made arrangements to “rent” a brothel for an entire night, allegedly inviting one of the Embassy’s chauffeurs to participate in the night’s activities’.

In each country he visited he was also said to have ‘insisted on interviewing “the angry young men” of the country as well as Communists who had extreme left-wing views’.

When he was in Mexico, it is said that his request to have certain left-wingers – one of whom was later linked with a Soviet spy ring – was refused as he was warned not to associate himself with such people.

This wasn’t an isolated incident… Later in life Senator Ted Kennedy secretly offered the Soviet KGB assistance in bringing down Ronald Reagan in the upcoming US election.

http://gatewaypundit.rightnetwork.com/2011/02/figures-dem-icon-rented-out-argentinian-brothel-during-meetings-with-communists/

“Uncommon Privilege” for Kennedy Clan before FBI Releases Ted Kennedy Files

What secrets still remain about one of America’s most famous public figures?

Before the FBI releases 3,000 pages of its file on Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy, the family of the late political icon will have a chance to review them and make its case to keep some portions from being made public.

The release of this first installment of Kennedy’s file comes in response to several Freedom of Information Act requests made following the senator’s death from brain cancer in 2009 at the age of 77.

According to The Boston Globe, the Kennedy family’s review of the documents is an “uncommon” privilege and is meant to ensure that the privacy of living people mentioned in the file is not violated.

While neither the FBI nor the Kennedy family has publicly commented on its contents, it’s possible the file could shed new light on such events as the 1969 death of Mary Jo Kopechne, the passenger who drowned when Kennedy drove his car off a bridge on Chappaquiddick Island, Mass.

For full story: http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/portions-of-ted-kennedys-fbi-file-may-stay-family-secret/19436417?icid=main|main|dl1|link3|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aolnews.com%2Fnation%2Farticle%2Fportions-of-ted-kennedys-fbi-file-may-stay-family-secret%2F19436417

Kennedy Dropping in Polls, opts to NOT seek a 9th Term in Congress

     His grandfather would be mortified that he was not “up to the fight” to hold onto his seat for a ninth term in Congress, put Patrick Kennedy, the youngest son of the late Sen. Ted Kennedy has announced that he will not run for another term in Congress.

      Kennedy, who has had a battle of substance abuse and other issues, much like his mother Joan Bennett Kennedy, has said that he will “champion the causes” that are dear to him in a different manner, but did not announce any immediate plans.

      Yesterday, Florida’s Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, a Republican, annoounced that he, too, was not seeking another term, deciding to focus on the Cuban-American issues from the private sector. His brother, also a Florida Congressman, immediately announced that he will relocate to his brother’s district to run for that seat.

      The “Pink Slip” movement seems to be afoot for some, while others, Like Diaz-Balart, believe that there should be fresh ideas brought to Washington. After all, that was the way our forefathers planned it.

Side note: Don’t be surprised if Patrick Kennedy moves back to Massachusetts and runs for “his father’s seat” in 2012 against Scott Brown.

The “Greying” of Congress

      Rep. John Murtha, the colorful and controversial Democrat from western Pennsylvania, underwent gallbladder surgery last week, and today, has been readmitted to the hospital, in the intensive care unit. Murtha will be 78 in June. There is no indication yet as to what the present situation is, but it is obviously quite serious.

      Everyone wishes John Murtha a speedy recovery, but it highlights the “greying” of our Congress, and the added need to revisit the idea of term limits. When Frankin Roosevelt was elected at the onset of the Depression, and then re-elected three more times, many began to see the possibility of a Presidency that, over time in the hands of one person, could evolve into something else. That was why Washington chose to retire to Mt. Vernon after two terms in office, and it was that viewpoint that led to the adoption of the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution so soon after Roosevelt’s death.

       Yet our Representatives and our Senators do not have the same limitations. Joe Biden was elected when Nixon was President. Chris Dodd has decided NOT to seek a sixth term in the Senate. Ted Kennedy had served since 1962. Robert Byrd was elected to the House of Representatives in 1952, and has served in the Senate since 1959. Rep. John Dingell, at 83, has been elected to his seat 26 times. Arlen Specter will be 80 next week.

     This was not what our forefathers could have envisioned, particularly under the banner of “By the People, for the People, of the People“. What sense of the “real world” do these career politicians have, being within the confines of the Beltway for decades? The legislation that they forge has an impact on the daily lives of average Americans, yet these legislators have not worked in the private sector to understand the impact of their legislation. This is not to say that the work done by these Congressmen and Senators is not beneficial to the country. But there is a great deal of disconnect between Washington and their constituents, as the ObamaCare legislation has shown.

       The greying of our Congress is not new (Strom Thurmond and Claude Pepper come to mind), and there is benefit to the counsel of theiir generation. But at the same time, as Ted Kennedy’s illness showed, the representation of the constituency takes a back seat to the politics of a legacy. The only method to correct this is term limits.

Ann Coulter: That Old Obama Magic!

from Ann Coulter’s column:

Once again, the people have spoken, and this time they quoted what Dick Cheney said to Pat Leahy.

Less than two weeks ago, The New York Times said that so much as a “tighter-than-expected” victory for Massachusetts Democratic Senate candidate Martha Coakley would incite “soul-searching among Democrats nationally,” which sent Times readers scurrying to their dictionaries to look up this strange new word, “soul.”

A close win for Coakley, the Times said, would constitute “the first real barometer of whether problems facing the party” will affect the 2010 elections.

But when Coakley actually lost the election by an astounding 5 points, the Chicago boys in the White House decided it was the chick’s fault.

Democratic candidate Martha Coakley may be a moral monster, but it’s ridiculous to blame her for losing the election. She lost because of the Democrats’ obsession with forcing national health care down the nation’s throat.

For Ann Coulter’s full column: http://www.anncoulter.com/

Left attacks at RedState.com

from Erick Erickson at RedState.com:

The leftists of the world are in full cry mode over me pointing out Ted Kennedy is to blame for Scott Brown getting elected. It is a simple truth that even Rick Sanchez had to admit, on CNN, made sense.

Nonetheless, some silly leftist emailed me at my city council address a link to a thread at a leftwing site where they are attacking me for speaking truth to idiots. And, just to make sure I knew he/she/it knew who I was, he/she/it put at the bottom my both mine and my wife’s name, along with our home address and old non-working phone number.

Extra points for that.

By the way, here is the Rick Sanchez segment:

http://www.redstate.com/erick/2010/01/20/silly-leftists-are-upset-by-me-telling-the-truth-about-ted-kennedy/

SCOTT BROWN Wins the Massachusetts Senate Seat

     One hour and twenty two minutes after the polls closed, the AP has projected Scott Brown as the next Senator for Massachsuetts.

     Martha Coakley has officially contacted the next Senator.

      Obama– Do You HEAR US NOW!!?? NANCY & HARRY– This is REAL GRASSROOTS- No astroturf HERE!!

      The NEW REVOLUTION has begun!!!

Scott Brown in Lead from the Moment the Polls Closed

     Boston.com’s interactive mapping has crashed several times.

     Fifty-minutes after the polls closed, Brown is at 52% and Coakley at 47%.

     The City of Boston is going for Coakley, but areas like Plymouth went for Brown.

     The “Scott heard round the world” is about to be heard!

WSJ: The Message of Massachusetts

Whether or not Republican Scott Brown wins today in Massachusetts, the special Senate election has already shaken up American politics. The close race to replace Ted Kennedy, liberalism’s patron saint, shows that voters are rebelling even in the bluest of states against the last year’s unbridled pursuit of partisan liberal governance.

Tomorrow marks the anniversary of President Obama’s Inaugural, and it’s worth recalling the extraordinary political opportunity he had a year ago. An anxious country was looking for leadership amid a recession, and Democrats had huge majorities and faced a dispirited, unpopular GOP. With monetary policy stimulus already flowing, Democrats were poised to get the political credit for the inevitable economic recovery.

Twelve months later, Mr. Obama’s approval rating has fallen further and faster than any recent President’s, Congress is despised, the public mood has shifted sharply to the right on the role of government, and a Republican could pick up a Senate seat in a state with no GOP Members of Congress and that Mr. Obama carried by 26 points.

What explains this precipitous political fall? Democrats and their media allies attribute it to GOP obstructionism, though Republicans lack the votes to stop anything by themselves. Or they blame their own Blue Dogs, who haven’t stopped or even significantly modified any legislation of consequence.

The full article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052748704541004575011021604106924.html