Katie Couric's Notebook: Senator Kennedy

By: Katie Couric
Topics: Katie Couric's Notebook

Much will be said about Senator Edward Moore Kennedy in the days and weeks to come as Americans look back on his life and celebrate his legacy.

I'll always remember when he took me on a tour of his beloved Boston, and it was clear from everyone who crossed his path he was revered as much as the Old North Church.

He will be remembered for his ability to turn political foes into friends, his gift for hammering out compromises that changed lives and gave a voice to society's disenfranchised. The Kennedy family lived by the motto "to those whom much is given much is expected."

At times expectations were low for the youngest Kennedy son, and he made his fair share of mistakes. But he evolved from a callow young man to an elder statesman of immeasurable strength and unwavering commitment.

He may not have been a perfect man, but his life's work was improving an imperfect world.
And for that we are eternally grateful.

That's a page from my notebook.

I'm Katie Couric, CBS News.

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by Omni-Present101 August 29, 2009 10:44 PM EDT: No: This is about Looking at Others in Judgement and Omitting a Tyrant...

George W.Bush:You Omit A Mass Murderer On Both Sides of the Coin.

You Live with Your Double Standards and I'll Gladly Expose Them, for what they are.

Contradictions, Hypocrisy's and Glaring Double Standards....

George W. Bush is a Mass Murderer [Got It]

I'll Gladly Point Your Bias Omissions Anytime.

You Omit his Mass Murdering Legacy.

__________________

You Republicans Demanded that He Pres.Obama [Stay] To Win and Declare [Victory]!!

Remember

Bush Started this Mess [The Iraq-Afghanistan Wars] Just as Lyndon B. Johnson's Viet Nam Mess, Obama will have to be Nixon and [Withdraw] from Both Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Only Reason President Obama is involved with Both Wars, is to Appease Low Life's [Republicans]like You, who Blindly Followed Bush-Cheney and Ugh John McCain.

When President Obama should not Cater to the Republicans on anything. He should Follow his own Agenda...DO YOU, UNDERSTAND

DUMMY; Reply to this comment

by Omni-Present101 August 29, 2009 6:33 PM EDT

http://politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2009/mar/03/mitch-mcconnell/mcconnell-v-math-math-wins/

One More thing,

First, about [$326 Billion] of the [$787 Billion] cost of the stimulus is from tax cuts, according to this report by Congress' Joint Committee on Taxation. That is not generally considered "spending" ? certainly not by McConnell's audience at CPAC. And even if it were, it was unfair to say the Democrats "spent" the entire $787 billion in one month; the spending will take place over the next seven years, with the bulk of it coming not the month it was passed, or even this year, but in 2010.

If McConnell believes that to schedule spending is effectively to spend, then he'll have to take another look at his war figures. The very report that his spokesman used to justify a war-spending estimate of $655 billion through 2008 said, "As of September 2008, Congress has appropriated a total of about $808 billion" for the global war on terror. The difference is made up of future obligations to which Bush committed, and McConnell did not count those.

And even $808 billion does not include all the necessary war spending for fiscal year 2009, which began October 2008. Traditionally all 2009 spending would be included in the budget President Bush drafted in February 2008, but Bush chose to fund the war through emergency supplemental appropriations instead.

He did not ask Congress for a 2009 supplemental appropriation before he left office, choosing instead to leave that to the next president. (President Obama asked for another $76 billion for the wars for fiscal 2009.)

And the wars will continue beyond 2009.

If McConnell is saying the Democrats spent the entire cost of the stimulus in one month, doesn't he have to hold Bush responsible for at least some of the longer term costs of the war? "If you look at the total cost of the stimulus bill it seems to me you also need to look at what the costs of Iraq and Afghanistan will be for the next few years," said Charles Konigsberg, chief budget counsel for the Concord Coalition.

Some experts have said that once costs like veterans' benefits are factored in, the war in Iraq will cost several trillion dollars .

In any event, the lowest estimate of Bush's war spending through 2008 that is even remotely defensible is $808 billion. Tack that onto the $132 billion cost of Katrina and you get $940 billion for the wars and Katrina.

That's well over the expenditures expected from the Democrats' stimulus and children's health insurance bills, which total $686 billion once tax cuts are subtracted. Even if we included the cost of the tax cuts (for a total of $818 billion), he would still be wrong because that's less than the $940 billion that uses a more accurate cost of the war spending.

And even that analysis, remember, is generous to McConnell since it includes several years of spending from the stimulus and SCHIP bills, not "one month."

McConnell's claim stands up only if you treat tax cuts as spending, accept an incomplete estimate of the wars' costs and group several years of planned spending into a one-month spending spree by the Democrats ? but not for Bush.

That is, it doesn't stand up at all. We find this claim False.

Go get an Education Or Live in that Fox News, Limbaugh, Hannity, Beck, Praeger & Savage Universe, you Currently Reside.

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by govmess August 29, 2009 9:26 PM EDT: Did you read what you wrote? It's so verbose is not understandable. It's quite obvious all of Obama's financial wizards have failed math...they didn't get the Clunker Program right and now they are 2T off on their deficit projection....we're not talking pocket change here. So who needs to get a basic education?

by govmess August 29, 2009 2:42 PM EDT

Omni-Present101 this has nothing to do with Bush...always trying to distract from the point...this is about TK and facts are facts. So he was against the Iraq war...we went to war and if he was a true patriot he would have supported our troops.
Why is Obama doing in Afgan exactly what he said he wouldn't do...guess it's alright for Obama to kill people and not ok for Bush...you are so illogical and hypocritical in your thinking. And, this economy is Obama's economy now, not Bush's and this worst econony will be Obama's legacy, not Bush's. Face up to the facts.

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by Omni-Present101 August 29, 2009 6:21 PM EDT: No: This is about Looking at Others in Judgement and omitting a Tyrant...

You Live with Your Double Standards and I'll Gladly Expose Them, for what they are.

Contradictions, Hypocrisy's and Glaring Double Standards.

I'll Gladly Point Your Bias Omissions Anytime.

See Ya


by Omni-Present101 August 29, 2009 6:25 PM EDT: No: This is about Looking at Others in Judgement and omitting a Tyrant...

You Live with Your Double Standards and I'll Gladly Expose Them, for what they are.

Contradictions, Hypocrisy's and Glaring Double Standards.

I'll Gladly Point Your Bias Omissions Anytime.

__________________

You Republicans Demanded that He [Stay] To Win and Declare [Victory]!!

Remember

Bush Started this Mess and Like Lyndon B. Johnson's Viet Nam Mess, Obama will have to be Nixon and [Withdraw] from Both Iraq and Afghanistan. The Only Reason he's in Both Wars is to Appease Low Life's like You, who Blindly Followed Bush-Cheney and Ugh John McCain.

When he shouldn't.

by govmess August 27, 2009 8:48 PM EDT

The character of a person is measured by what he does in private...for TK, he was a rich boy who got a way with murder...that's his legacy...that's how I will remember him and the next generation won't even know his name....in death he now faces his true judgment

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by Omni-Present101 August 29, 2009 8:26 AM EDT: George W.Bush is Responsible for the Deaths of Many Men and Women in Iraq, Under False Pretenses.

Bush is also Responsible for the Deaths and Permamnent Injuries of Over 5,000 US Soldiers [Men-Women] of this Great Nation, who Fought in Iraq.

Yet the Very People Disparaging Kennedy Omit these Glaring Facts, Knowing that Both George W.Bush & Dick Cheney should be on Trial for War Crimes, in anyother Country, this would Happen and yet these very People call George W.Bush a [Patriot]

Oh Yeah, Kennedy was Adamantly Oppose to the farce On Iraq and Look at the Financial Impact of Bush-Cheney to this Country's Economy, 20 Billion Per Month with Interest, to Communist-Socialist China, for the Past 8 Years and Counting and no Matter the Economic Improvements, the Wars in Both Iraq & Afghanistan will Bring It Down.

Kennedy was [Right] about that and Much More.

The Republican Hypocrisy and Contradictions, Know No Bounds.

Ted Kennedy Legislation is Throughout Washington DC and it Stacks Up Well, Against All his Various Detractors.

Think Before You Type and Wikipedia The Good, Bad & Indifference of Ted Kennedy, You'll Find, it was a Ton Of Good, To Out-Weigh his [Bad]

GovMess: I bet Your Life's Story, is a Story Of Moral Integrity and Without Spot or Blemish. Pure perfection and Your Entire Family, Upright in Every Way. I'd Bet the Farm on it. [Ha]


by Boston14 August 27, 2009 7:29 PM EDT: What a Wonderful Broadcast outside the Kennedy Library!
Thanks to Katie Couric & Jeff Glor for a job well-done.
Senator Kennedy would be Very Proud!
God Bless

Boston loves the CBS Evening News; Reply to this comment


by bbweston August 27, 2009 6:59 PM EDT: Katie, Thanks for your kind and generous words. You can be my voice, anytime! I only wish I could give my appreciation to Sen. Kennedy's family, myself.

I'd thank them for sharing their beloved Teddy with us, for so many years. God be with the family, and he will be forever missed by a lot of people.

I love that family motto, and hope that my family, though not monetarily wealthy, can certainly learn to give of our time and talents in a way that might make a difference.

What a great gift the Kennedy Family has given to all of us.; Reply to this comment


by JaniceSims August 27, 2009 6:06 PM EDT: So Senator did make mistakes, but is he the only one that has made mistakes. Certainly he is not perfect, but who of us human being are perfect? There is only one perfect one.; Reply to this comment

by JaniceSims August 27, 2009 6:04 PM EDT

So Senator did make mistakes, but is he the only one that has made mistakes. Certainly he is not perfect, but who of us human being are perfect? There is only one perfect one.

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by conradb2 August 31, 2009 2:38 PM EDT: "So the Senator (TK) MADE MISTAKES!!??" Are you #$*#@! kidding me!! Leaving a woman to die while contacting friends and lawyers in an effort to avoid being implicated in her death is nothing short of murder.
Had it been you or me involved in a situation like that, we would still be in jail... which is where he should have been.


by petersemkiw August 27, 2009 12:48 AM EDT: Senator Ted Kennedy was one of the greatest American statesmen and leaders that America has ever had. The legacy of his many significant positive contributions to American society will continue to improve the lives of many generations far into the future, and he will be remembered with the greats of American History for his compassion, courage, and humanity, especially towards the less fortunate in our society, as well. He will be sorely missed on the American political scene. Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family.; Reply to this comment

by Omni-Present101 August 26, 2009 11:38 PM EDT

Senator Ted Kennedy

Perfect [No]

Human [Yes]

Flawless [No]

Striving For Our Hearts [Yes]

Forever Seeking Redemption [Yes]

Longing For Our Forgiveness [Yes]

Forgiven By Most Of Us [Yes]

Did He Ever Forgive Himself for His Shortcomings [I Hope So]

I'm Not Perfect and Neither are Those Who Throw Stones at Him in Death ?
______________________

Peace Be His Next Journey,

Peace Be his Next Journey.

Onward & Upward....

Onward Ted, Onward.

Omaar

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