British Media Assail Senator Ted Kennedy

In case you haven’t heard, England’s Elisabeth II has bestowed an honorary knighthood to senior Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy. But that doesn’t mean the English are happy about it. In fact, the only reason Senator Kennedy was knighted was because Prime Minister Gordon Brown is a huge fan of Senator Kennedy and used to spend his vacations on Cape Cod with the Senator. In British politics today, the Queen is essentially the Prime Minister’s slave where whatever he asks of her must be done.

The reason so many of the Brits are up in arms over this is because Senator Kennedy is not only good friends with Prime Minister Gordon Brown, but also with Gerry Adams, the leader of Sinn Fein - a political wing of Irish Republicanism. Kennedy’s friendship with Adams doesn’t begin just in 2005 (when the photo was taken) but during the Troubles and while Senator Kennedy may have been a thorn in our sides domestically throughout the course of his career, he was also an avid supporter of the movement for freedom in Northern Ireland.

I feel a little less guilty for saying I’m a liberal on foreign policy now.

When looking back on the Conflict that’s plagued Northern Ireland, especially in the mid and late 20th century, we often overlook the fact that there were American Politicians on both sides of the political spectrum outraged over British treatment of Irish Catholics in Northern Ireland. Senator Kennedy was a leader in the United States Senate on the issue and, in this instance, did a fine job any Catholic should be proud of.

Senator Kennedy, who is 77 years old and recovering from brain surgery to remove a dangerous tumor from his brain, deserves a lot more courtesy from the British media than he’s getting. They’ve called him everything from a disgrace in Anglo-American relations to a full-fledged terrorist. The only disgrace, however, belongs to the British for their prolonged oppression of Irish Catholics and their treatment of an old man with a long political career. Hopefully, Senator Kennedy finds a sense of pride in these British attacks - they mean a job well done.

I can just imagine the looks of excitement on the faces of some of the people from my family in Massachusetts when they hear me saying something nice about Senator Kennedy. Don’t worry, I still disagree with him on everything domestic.