There's something like 7,000 people who die per day in the United States. As with Michael Jackon's death, I ask myself: Is there something about Ted Kennedy which makes me more sad about his death than about the other roughly 7,000 deaths in America? My answer: No. All of that attention, every last bit of it, given to Michael Jackson's death was completely unnecessary with regard to my own personal feelings, and the same is true with regard to the attention being given to Ted Kennedy.
On the other hand: Am I glad that Ted Kennedy is no longer a senator? Hell yes. It's time to celebrate a potententially huge improvement in the U.S. senate.
Posted by Jeff at August 26, 2009 08:20 PMWhile I do agree with you about the over-hype, I also understand that both Ted Kennedy and Michael Jackson were symbols of some larger concept in history. I don't think all the hype surrounding their deaths is for the individuals but for what they symolized. It would be like if you lost your favorite Grateful Dead tee shirt. It's not the tee shirt you miss (you have dozens of other tee shirts) but what it represents--your first Dead concert and the people you were with at the time and who you were and what you were doing in your life at that time. The tee shirt was a symbol for all of that and now it's gone. Human beings like symbols.
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