A MESSAGE FROM THE PUBLISHER

Of the dead, speak only the truth.

Life has its rewards, sometimes. It never occurred to me that mine would include writing Senator Edward M. "Teddy" Kennedy's obituary. The world is a cleaner place without him, and we are all vastly better off.

I can't think of a single instance in his 47 Senate years of Teddy taking the same side of an issue that most of this journal's readers or I would. As for the Constitution, the contempt in which this nation's founding fathers would have held him is beyond my power to describe. Even Alexander Hamilton would have lifted one eyebrow and sneered.

The man came from a family that was utterly without principles or scruples. The fact that their fortune was founded on Prohibition-era liquor smuggling is the only point in their favor I can think of. The patriarch, Joseph P., was a funny-looking little guy whose financial support for Franklin Delano Roosevelt bought him an appointment as Ambassador to the "Court of St. James"—an appointment that was later withdrawn when it developed that the Ambassador was allegedly leaning toward the National Socialist side of the ongoing argument in Europe.

I had a neighbor once—and no, I can't back this up, it's simply a story the guy next door told me about something that had happened to him personally—who had lived, as a kid, just down the road from the Kennedy "compound" at Hyannisport. Sometimes he and his siblings would play with the Kennedy children, On one occasion, when it was time to go home, Teddy took my friend's bicycle with him. When my friend's dad confronted Old Man Joe, the latter automatically began to write him a check.

"It's not about money. That's my son's bicycle, and he wants it back." Apparently it took several iterations to get this across to the former Ambassador; he never really understood the principle involved. Later, Teddy was caught cheating in school, but I figure that was only par for the course for a guy, not terribly bright, whose famous older brother basked in the lifelong glory of award-winning ghost-written books. No wonder the youngest brother embraced socialism. Someone with so little ability would wish desperately to receive according to his needs.

Of such stuff is the American "aristocracy" fashioned. This poor, sad country doesn't need a royal family, even figuratively speaking. As a people, we are all too inclined to be awed by celebrities, most of whom, in fact, are just barely hanging onto what's left of their humanity with their teeth and nails. I've often thought the British, once they got a good idea of what kind of blathering cretin Prince Charles is, should have visited Madame Tussaud's and broken out the guillotine.

It would probably be against the law to make the same observation about our own "princes", a maudlinity I've heard all too often in the last few days. So much for the First Amendment. Enough to say that Teddy has left us, exactly as he left Mary Jo Kopechne, trapped in the wreckage he helped to make of America, gasping our last few precious breaths of liberty as the cold, black waters of socialism rise around us.

L. Neil Smith
Publisher and Senior Columnist
The Libertarian Enterprise

THE EDITOR'S NOTES

Ding Dong the Drunk is Dead!
Which old Drunk?
The Wicked old Drunk!
Ding Dong the Wicked Drunk is Dead!

Hi-ho the derry-oh!
Sing it high!
Sing it low!
Ding Dong the Wicked Drunk is Dead!

Thanks to Dangerous Pat who saw the first line of the above rewritten song on the Browncoat's Forum, posted by TOTUS. All hail TOTUS!

And on that note (E-flat I believe) I would like to take this time to give out a big "Thank You!" to our supporters and contributors who help us do what we do. You all know who you are. We couldn't do it without you!

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Ken Holder
Editor
editor@ncc-1776.org