BARBARA'S TCHATZKAHS

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News , World News , and News about the Economy I have a hard time figuring out what to say about Ted Kennedy and his passing. On the one hand, my like my own Dad of blessed memory - he was all about his family. He proved to be a supportive father to his children and friend to other family members. His funeral Mass in Boston was very reminiscent of things about my own Father's Funeral in April 2003. But like my Dad, Ted had his problems. But Ted Kennedy's were much worse. I don't think there is any forgiveness for a man who leaves someone in a car to drown off a Chappaquidick bridge. Mary Jo is said to have lived for 2 hours in that car - enough time to get help. Yet Ted went to bed and didn't report it until morning. I am grateful for the bills he helped pass for Mental Healthcare Parity and helping the disabled. But his personal conduct? One could say he was "just a human being" - but I don't know too many human beings...

by Susie Day On July 8, the resplendently Caucasian, flag-loving, fag-hating, five-term Senator Jesse Helms exited the political scene, stage right, to begin his long-awaited dirt nap. All the world being a stage, a host of players, including Dick Cheney and John and Cindy McCain, assembled sorrowfully near the starred-and-striped coffin containing the body of the hidebound conservative who never changed, never apologized. Seeming to take his cue from absurdist theater, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell eulogized Jesse Helms as one of the "kindest" men in Congress. No matter who you were, intoned McConnell, "he always had a kind word and a gentle smile." Strangely, there was nothing in McConnell's script about the time Jesse Helms, in an elevator with fellow senators – including Carole Moseley-Braun just after she'd spoken in the Senate, denouncing slavery and the Confederate flag – turned to his friend Orin Hatch and said, "I'm going to sing ...