Thank you, Senator.
August 27, 2009 by Julia King
It’s easy to forget that some people are made of flesh and blood. Certain performers and athletes (and statesmen), those larger-than-life folks who do things the rest of us only dream about. The people who face down tanks or take a stage in front of a hundred thousand onlookers.
This is not to suggest that the rest of us are slouches, because we’re not. Just last week I stood in a hallway with fellow citizens and listened to friends and acquaintances make public speeches in an effort to update our city human rights ordinance to include sexual orientation and gender identity. That night I heard some bigotry; but I also heard a lot of common sense and eloquence. I heard democracy and the making of justice.
Not long before that, I watched a friend work for health care in a BIG way, as she lobbied people at a street festival, appeared in the newspaper, on television, and started a health care blog on the web — all in a matter of days.
Most of us step in and out of the public eye — and the pressure of the political arena. We take some causes on and leave some for others to fight. We forgive ourselves our limitations (as we should). But Ted Kennedy stayed in there for almost 5 decades.
Thank you, Senator.
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Maria Shriver was on Meet the Press today. She spoke about how long it can take to achieve change, and how Ted Kennedy was in it for the long haul.
Check out this short clip here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/32616197#32605210