Although I extend condolences to the remaining Kennedys for the loss of the "last brother," the "last knight," if you will, of the media-created sham that was Camelot, I will not miss Senator Ted Kennedy, who was by far much more liberal than either of his brothers, JFK or RFK, one of whom I voted for and both of whom I admired, and therefore far too liberal for me.

However, having said that, what amazes me most about the so-called liberal lion's passing is how quick, how crass, how manipulative and mendacious, how unseemly and unwittingly ungracious Teddy's so-called "friends and fellow liberals" have been in using his death and his name to call for passing Obama's universal health care reform "for Teddy." Oh, please! How transparently Machiavellian.

Literally, within HOURS of Kennedy's death, liberal Democrat and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued a statement contending that everyone should now unite in passing ObamaCare "for the Gipper" in the name of Teddy Kennedy, who had for so long desired universal health care for all. What a crock! Hey, Miz Nancy, did some of that botox used on your face leak into your brain and paralyze part of it, too?

You can't "do it for Teddy." Teddy is dead. No one can do anything for him now, except show their respects and pray for his soul. You can try to do it in Teddy's name, but, to me, using his name and his reputation, instead of developing the measured and carefully crafted health care/insurance reform which the country needs and which will stand on its own, both cheapens his name, his reputation and his memory, as well as evidencing your own lack of sincere effort.

Yes, Teddy wanted health care for all, but, as liberal as he was, he would never have supported what you and Harry Reid and Obama are so far proposing. Teddy would have worked across the aisle to gain bipartisan support, even compromising to get it, and he would have at least given some consideration to how to pay for it all. That "doing of the hard work" and "making the hard trade-offs" was what made him such a successful negotiator and legislator over the almost 50 years he was in the Senate. You, Harry Reid and Obama, on the other hand, are "lazy legislators" who just want to "get it done and move on," often without even reading, much less taking time to carefully craft, what you're voting on.

I have little doubt that Obama, perhaps even in delivering his eulogy of Kennedy, will also shamelessly invoke Teddy's name and long-time goal to try to once again "sell" ObamaCare. It won't work, of course, because the American electorate is beyond sentimentality and false claims about this issue, Americans in growing numbers want real answers that make common sense to them, not just town hall talking points and vague reassurances.

[Subtitled: Ah, those delightfully doofus (and dangerously delusional) Democrats]

With angry constituents showing up in increasing numbers at Democrat (and some Republican) town hall meetings across the country and demanding to be heard about their growing dissatisfaction with a host of Obama Administration and Congressional issues, rather than just being passively preached to about the Democrat talking points gospel of Obamacare, the Democrat so-called "leadership" is going on the attack, or I should say, counter-attack. Herewith, some of their "reasoning."

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-NV, that crusty curmudgeonly princeling of the senate, grouses and grumps that town hall attendees are just trying to "sabotage" health care reform. Well, Harry, first of all, which of the at least five so-called health care/health insurance reform "plans" currently floating around in Congress do you think they're trying to sabotage? Or are you talking about what at least the House of Representatives (not your Senate, Harry) has voted on so far, the euphemistically named but seriously flawed and certainly far from final H.R. 3200, "America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009"?

The fact is, when the prez or any of you talk about the prez's health care, uh, sorry, more recently renamed health insurance, reform "plan," there is no "plan" yet. At most what you have is about five differing versions of something embodying most of what are Obama's "goals" for health care/insurance reform. Goals ain't plans, Harry. (Example: Obama still has the goal of closing Guantanamo, but we've yet to see a plan -- even a workable cart-before-the-horse one -- to actually do that.) And once you do get it down into a single plan, with or without Republican participation, if that plan includes things like single payer and a massive government makeover/takeover of the best health care system in the world, especially without tort or insurance rate reform but with rationed care, especially for the elderly, and federal funding of abortions, then you're damn right there will be people at those town hall meetings trying to sabotage it. And I will be one of them.

Senator Barbara Boxer, D-CA, says many town hall attendees are too well dressed to be "sincere." Is that because they're not wearing red ACORN or purple SEIU union T-shirts, Babs? From what I've seen, the people attending the town hall meetings are wearing everything from suits and ties to T-shirts and jeans. Most look like they came to the town hall meeting from work. Don't you try to dress well, Barbara? And aren't you sincere? Just askin'.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-CA, who is both the princess of power in the House and the botox queen (wow, double royalty!), thinks she's seen people with swastikas at town hall meetings. Look out, the skinheads are invading our town hall meetings! Why, they're even crowding out some of our own paid, bussed-in union thugs! How about one person with a crossed-out swastika at one meeting, Miz Nancy? Oh my! But far be it from ME to accuse YOU of exaggerating something just to try and make a point. Or were "those swastikas" at a TEA Party protest, which Democrats also try to deny and decry? How does that work, exactly, where you deny something and then decry its existence? Of course Nance also has said the CIA lies to Congress but has yet to offer any proof of that, either. I guess just claims and allegations are enough nowadays. 

Back in April, President Obama, who as the president of the United States is someone who can have several someones find out anything he wants to know, any time he wants to know it, was dismissive of thousands of TEA Party protesters at hundreds of venues across the country, saying he didn't know what all that was about, except he saw someone waving a tea bag around. (Whattaya think now, Mistah Prez?)

Since then, various Dems and their lamestream media handmaidens have derided TEA Party protesters and denied their authenticity, yet decried their obviously growing numbers. So, lemme see now, (a) they're not authentic, (b) you don't understand what they're all about, but (c) you decry and disparage their activities anyway? And how come when Bush was prez, disruptive liberal "free speech" (read: shouting down any speaker with a conservative point of view) was a sign of "patriotism," but now concerned citizens gathering to demonstrate to their elected representatives their dissatisfaction with a runaway government is not only somehow "unpatriotic" but should also be "ignored"? Don't you have to be at least a little schizophrenic to do all that, all at the same time? Or is that just another example of Dems trying to have their cake and eating it too?

But, speaking of cake, Senator Richard Durbin, D-IL, seems to take the cake among all the Democrats lately. Senator Durbin seems to think the Vast Right-wing Conspiracy has been reactivated (if it ever was dormant, eh, Senator? -- nudge, nudge, wink, wink.) and that there is nothing authentic about the people or their anger at recent town hall meetings: They're all Republicans, or at least all conservatives. They're organized and funded by the GOP, or some other Obama-unapproved and unapproving special interest group. They're all bussed in just to disrupt the meetings and prevent a fair discussion of health care/health insurance reform. They're right-wing fringe nutjobs who don't really represent mainstream America. They just want to be disruptive and get on YouTube. Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

Hey, Dickey, I know you've been a senator for a long time, but either (a) you are desperately disconnected from what's going on in this country right now, (b) you are perniciously paranoid about what you do know is going on, or (c) you want us to think you're just little Dickey Durbin, Democrat from Illinois, and just really dumber than dirt. Either that, or you think we are.